


Down the Line

by fevered_dreams



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Light BDSM, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2018-09-15 05:07:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9220028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fevered_dreams/pseuds/fevered_dreams
Summary: Shiro and Keith are a couple of mostly ordinary space explorers accidentally turned heroes, and Lance wants nothing more than to travel across the universe with them.And if they happen to get embroiled with helping to put an end to a hostile, intergalactic Galran rebellion... Well, what's an adventure without adversity?





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU in which some things are the same, but many things are pretty different.

The first thought that had creeped through Keith's mind uninvited when he laid eyes on Prince Lance of Altea amounted to essentially 'Oh no, he's cute'.

He then promptly flung that thought out of his treacherous mind when Lance's father, King Alfor, stepped into Keith's field of vision, laying his broad hand on Lance's shoulder to catch Lance's attention away from the diplomat Lance was skillfully entertaining. King Alfor's expression was fond the whole way through, and it would do none of them any good to ruin the King of Altea's opinion of them just because his son was pretty and Keith was weak.

From beside him, Shiro chuckled. Keith had no doubt that Shiro could tell exactly what kind of dilemma was going through. From the corner of his eye, Keith could see of Shiro's open body language, and his natural scent was sprinkled with the distinct musky tinge that burst into the air around them each time Shiro's gaze landed upon Prince Lance, and, taking all of that into consideration, it seemed that Shiro was suffering just the same. Keith and Shiro's interests typically aligned well, which suited the two of them more than fine. It was always nice to gossip together about an attractive person and even nicer to invite that person to bed with them.

However, there were a few rare occasions during which they didn't see completely eye-to-eye with each other. A prime example would be how Shiro insisted on forcibly guiding Keith towards Prince Lance after King Alfor had disappeared, despite Keith's protests.

"Shiro, this is definitely a bad idea," Keith hissed, attempting to ground his heels into the floor to stop from getting any closer to Prince Lance. He didn't want to cause a huge scene, though, so he could only push against Shiro so much.

As usual, Shiro was the clear winner.

"Come on, Keith," Shiro whispered, pushing Keith forward even more, "it'll be fine. We're just going up to him to have a nice conversation with him, which we should be doing as pseudo-ambassadors of Earth, anyway. Besides, it's been awhile since I've last spoken to Lance, and, knowing him, I bet he'll be delighted to see me again."

"You can do that perfectly fine by yourself," Keith argued. Then, he paused. Then, "You've met Prince Lance before? You're even on a casual first-name basis with him?"

"Oh, did I not mention that? I knew him when he was visiting Earth a few years back. He took part of the Garrison training program to improve his 'intergalactic culture sensitivity', but he told me once that that was just a fancy way for him to be able to explore other planets without too much fuss from King Alfor," Shiro said, a satisfied grin creeping across his face at the betrayed look on Keith's face. "In fact, he was training to be a pilot."

Keith huffed as he stopped resisting Shiro's endeavors. "I've never heard about him from the Garrison gossip. Was he any good at piloting?"

"The higher-ups informed people that knew about him to keep hush to avoid potential issues, and, by the time you were in training, most people who had studied alongside him were gone. As a pilot, he wasn't bad; he showed promise, but I think the difference in the technology and controls of human ships and Altean ones tripped him up more than he let on. Regardless, he ended up ranking pretty high after some hard work."

"Were you two... close?"

"Not especially, but we were pretty well-acquainted. We saw each other enough to become something like friends, but, after hours, Lance was usually preoccupied with the Galran guard that had come along with him to pay anyone else much attention, unfortunately. Though, to be fair, the guy was attractive. I think his name was Thace?" Shiro mused.

Keith tried not to get too excited at the thought that Prince Lance didn't mind being presumably intimate with a Galran. Otherwise, Shiro would never let him live it down. He would probably tease him with old pictures of Lance for weeks to come.

He didn't have much time to worry about himself, though, because Prince Lance spotted them soon afterwards, walking over with a wide grin and sparkling eyes.

Keith had always considered Altean eyes to be stunning, like miniature cosmos bursting with life and splendor. It was almost unfair that they were allowed to exist on a mortal's face, and Prince Lance's were almost too breathtaking to look at. Of course, that meant that Keith could do nothing besides stare.

Oh, please don't let King Alfor see him staring at his son like a lech. The Galaxy Garrison would most certainly be unimpressed if that happened.

"Shiro! I can't believe you're here in Altea!" Prince Lance exclaimed, bounding over to them with long, slender legs that were too good and too much before he threw his arms around Shiro in glee. "How have you been?"

"It's nice to see you, too," Shiro replied, loosening his death grip on Keith's arm now that they were right where he wanted them, that sly asshole, so he could hug Lance in resturn, "and I've been well. I just finished with the Garrison, and now I'm on my own space exploration team. I'm glad that Altea ended up being one of my stops; you're looking quite well, all dressed up as an Altean prince instead of the Garrison uniform. I'm glad I got to see you in your own element."

"I heard that you're the captain of your crew! Congratulations, Shiro, you totally deserved it! And, even though I know this royal garb looks fantastic on me," Lance began, striking a pose that would've been comical if Lance didn't actually look fantastic in the white and blue formal suit. It was adorned with a translucent collar that made Lance's neck look painfully tantalizing underneath the delicate fabric. "I'd honestly much rather still be sweating everywhere in that tacky uniform than stuck here."

Suddenly, Prince Lance turned to face Keith, the stars in his eyes shining. "And who is this cutie beside you?" he purred. "I've always liked Galrans."

Keith nearly passed out from how much blood was going in every direction through his body, as if it couldn't decide if it would be better for him to be horribly embarrassed or horribly aroused.

Thankfully, Shiro stepped in to make his introductions for him. "This is Keith. He's my second-in-command."

"Another pilot then? I guess that'll make us rivals, once I finally get off Altea again. I'm one of the best pilots on Altea, you know, and I wasn't too shabby on Earth, either. I hope you're ready, Keith," Prince Lance teased.

Keith was decidedly not ready.

Shiro and Prince Lance chatted for a bit longer as Keith stood awkwardly to the side: best to avoid from doing something unfortunate that would get them all kicked off of the planet by King Alfor. Lance's voice was sweet yet boisterous, and his speech and mannerisms were unlike that of his father and older sister, Allura, whom Keith had briefly spoken to earlier; he was far more brash and outspoken, eyes more sensual than stern, but his words contained a pleasing lilt that hinted to his playfulness, all of which served to make Prince Lance even more endearing to Keith. Not to mention, Lance's skin, which contrasted with his distinct teal eyes and markings, was practically begging to be worshipped.

All in all, the whole thing was incredibly unfair.

However, before long, Prince Lance was reluctantly lead away by one of the Altean ambassadors towards other foreign diplomats that needed to be cozied up to. Unsurprisingly, within a few animated words, the poor fools were drawn to the prince like a moth to a flame. Keith couldn't decide whether or not he should be relieved or disappointed at Prince Lance's departure.

In the end, he was both. While he missed Prince Lance's presence next to him and the soothing scent that emanated off of him that Keith wanted to bathe himself in, he still enjoyed watching the prince work the room. Prince Lance's charisma bloomed around him in tendrils as his effortless allure quickly captivated the poor saps caught in his trap.

All an all, the Prince of Altea knew exactly how enticing he was, and he was a master at using it to ensnare his helpless prey.

"Wouldn't it be nice to have him with us in bed? I bet he would fit between us wonderfully, move beneath us beautifully." Shiro asked under his breath after the two of them had stopped near the refreshments tables. There was no one near them, but Keith still hushed him. "It's fine. No one can hear us."

"What."

"I mentioned how disappointed I was with Lance's attachment to Thace, didn't I? What a lucky guy. I would've more than loved to have been in his place. Still, I heard from quite a few people that the Crown Prince of Altea was a mighty whiner, albeit a pretty one. It's too bad that my quarters weren't near his. Maybe then I could've convinced him to spend a night or a few with me. At least, maybe I could've heard him moan."

Keith wanted to refuse to answer. He wanted to steel his resolve enough to at least save his lust for when he finally found time to be alone, either with himself or with Shiro, to give himself space to think arguably too much about the Prince of Altea. However, Shiro's gaze didn't let up. His scent was dipping dangerously, and Keith imagined that his own scent was also quickly veering into that damp, woody smell that signaled his own blooming arousal. Any other Galran around them could no doubt smell them with amazing clarity, but Keith couldn't find it in himself to care. Knowing that Shiro felt the same, Keith breathed, "Fuck, yes."

Shiro grinned. "We're here for another week, so let's see what we can do. It seemed like he was interested enough, even though I don't know if he's ever been with two men before. I wouldn't mind it if we were his first experience, though." Once again, Keith marveled at how good Shiro was at being a perfect gentleman and great leader despite how devious he was.

Really, Shiro was amazing.

Eventually, Pidge found the two of them after worming her way through the crowd with expert, sinuous movements, cheeks stuffed with food. Keith suspected that she had more of it stored away elsewhere. Altean cuisine was much better than the pre-packaged space food they toiled through on a daily basis, after all.

"Where have you been this whole time?" Keith asked.

Pidge shrugged. "Just here and there. The tech here is crazy impressive, but even all of this amazing stuff couldn't distract me from the heart eyes you've been shooting at the prince. Even you," Pidge huffed, thrusting her finger at Shiro accusingly, "are not doing much better. Please don't ruin Earth's relations with Altea because the Prince of Altea is too attractive for your libidos to handle. It's not every day that a couple of regular old space explorers like us get to attend a celebration for the successful signing of a treaty between two of the most influential powers in the galaxy, you know, so I figure we better make the best of it."

"We know. We'll try," Shiro promised.

Pidge didn't look particularly convinced, but she still let them be to continue examining Altean technology with wide eyes.

The night steadily continued on and, just as King Alfor and Lord Zarkon prepared to address the room together, Prince Lance found Keith and Shiro again in the crowd.

"You don't need to be up there?" Shiro asked as Lance settled beside them. Keith tried his best to control his apparent heart eyes.

"Nah, Allura and I aren't really at the point where we're directly involved in intergalactic relations yet. Allura's getting there, but I'm still mostly in charge of buttering up all the important people with my amazing wit and charm. Thankfully, I am very witty and charming, and, thankfully, people's tongues tend to become loose when they're fixated enough, so the mingling I'm forced to go through is not all for naught." Prince Lance ended his explanation with a wink that sent Keith's heart fluttering almost as quickly as Prince Lance's eyelashes.

"So you collect information from your flirting?" Shiro asked.

"I don't know if I'd call it _flirting_ , necessarily, but yeah, basically. Alteans believe in advocating peace as a means to prosperity, but peace isn't a clean, one-and-done thing; sometimes a little bit of hard negotiating behind the scenes helps to spur the process along," Prince Lance explained. "Both my father and Allura are too straightforward for this kind of stuff, so that's where I come in."

Beside him, Keith could smell the spike in Shiro's scent. He always was fascinated by competency.

Keith wondered if Pidge was watching them from the depths of the shadows with the most unimpressed face. He suspected that the answer was 'most definitely'.

Fortunately, Keith was spared from accidentally doing anything untoward when King Alfor and Lord Zarkon approached the makeshift stage at the front of the room.

"I wonder how Lord Zarkon managed to live this long," Keith marveled aloud.

"I wondered the same before it was suggested that I refrain from asking," Lance said.

"I'm more curious about the age of his son compared to Zarkon's; Lotor's about 200 while Zarkon's, what, 10,000 years old?" Pidge announced, suddenly appearing with a bounce in her step. Prince Lance took her sudden appearance in stride.

"I also wondered about that before it was _strongly_  suggested that I never question it," Lance said with a shrug. "Either way, I can't bring myself to care enough about Lotor to really bother."

"His son is such a shit," Keith hissed, ears flattening in anger. "Those Galran rebels aren't doing anyone any good."

"Well, I won't disagree with you," Lance said, crossing his arms over his chest testily. "I met the guy back before he turned full asshole, but, even then, I didn't like him. That self-serving smirk that was constantly plastered on his face was infuriating, and I'm usually weak to a good asshole smirk. Still, if I had known it would all come to this, I would've done something about him all those years ago when I had the chance."

Keith was about to say more before Shiro stopped him with a heavy hand on his shoulder and a pointed glance at Prince Lance. "Settle, you two. The announcement is about to begin," he ordered, voice edging towards his 'competent leader' tone.

Interestingly, Prince Lance's scent melted into something so sweet that it lavished on Keith's tongue with an addictive aftertaste. Keith suspected that the change was in reaction to Shiro's words, or, more specifically, the tone of his words. Shiro would be pleased to know his affect on Prince Lance.

The sound of a bell chime rang out around them, bright and clear as if it had been naturally produced, though the lasting effect of its ring as it spread out impossibly far across the room gave away its technological origins. Regardless, everyone's attention was drawn away from one another to the two imposing figures at the front of the room.

"I extend to you all my humblest of gratitude for attending this banquet to celebrate the most recent treaty forged between Altea and the Galra Empire," King Alfor announced as the thrum of voices hovering through the crowd finally died down. "Our two peoples have not always seen eye-to-eye in the past, but I am more than pleased to take part in these efforts to move Altea towards a more amicable relationship with the Galra Empire that I hope will prove beneficial all across the galaxy. Altea has and will always advocate for and promote intergalactic peace, and I believe that continued goodwill efforts with the Galra Empire will aid in seeing this mission through."

Murmurs of approval rose from the audience, though Keith could pick out a few that erred on the side of skeptical. Knowing how not so far-off some of the tensions between Alteans and Galrans were, he understood. At the same time, Keith was also familiar with the internal strife tearing away at the Galran Empire, so he was more than happy to anticipate more.

Wordlessly, King Alfor turned his attention to Lord Zarkon, who, with an impressive and imposing stance, drew the audience's attention to him as if it pained them to look elsewhere. "I, too, am hopeful for what is to come for Altea, the Galra Empire, and those far beyond. The way of the Galrans has always been one filled with conquest, strife, and domination in which we are destined to either triumph or die, and I would not seek to change this, even if I felt capable of doing so."

A few more murmurs, more disapproving than before, floated upwards before Lord Zarkon overpowered them. "However, I have come to the realization that the Galra way can exist and thrive within the Galra Empire while simultaneously having a limited influence on those beyond it, and will thus ultimately benefit to my grand empire and its people. As a result, King Alfor and I," punctuated by a grand gesture to and an approving nod from King Alfor, "have decided to forge an alliance through our mutual desire to quell and destroy the Galran rebel forces. These rebels who claim to act in the best interest of the Galra Empire are deluded, and they will be stopped."

"To be honest, even though I've only ever known him during times of peace, I've always been afraid of Lord Zarkon," Prince Lance whispered, leaning in so close that his breath tickled Keith's ears, "and I didn't know why until I realized that it was because he would do _anything_ if he believed that it would benefit the Galra Empire. Thankfully, with the way that the Galra Empire's economy is suffering plus the intergalactic backlash that the rebel forces are generating, he's can't help but be on our side. Having a guy like Lord Zarkon on our side is one of the greatest things to happen to Altea in quite some time."

It seemed as though most of the other members of the audience agreed based on the huge round of applause that erupted around them. Keith, too, was pleased, and, looking around him, Shiro and Pidge wore inspired expressions over their apprehension.

Sadly, the joyful mood enveloping the ballroom was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass raining down on them as explosions rend the walls apart.

 

* * *

 

 

Smoke filled the room, and Shiro was only able to catch a glimpse of King Alfor and Lord Zarkon in front him, still alive for the moment, before smoke stung his eyes and blinding flashes of light obscured his sight. Even in the darkness, he was able to catch Keith, Pidge, and Prince Lance in a tight hold before hauling them all to the side.

Keith and Pidge must have recognized his prosthetic arm, or maybe just trusted Shiro enough to believe that he had been the first one to grab ahold of them, because they moved with him without struggle. Lance, on the other hand, squirmed in his hold like a trapped cat, legs kicking out at him violently as he tried to claw himself away.

"Lance, calm down! It's me, Shiro!" He hissed, loud enough so that Lance would be able to hear him above the chaos, but hopefully not so loud that whoever was behind the attack would be alerted. "I'll get you to safety, trust me."

Lance's struggles ceased, and, as Shiro's vision finally started to return, the four of them were able to use the confusion around them to escape. They ducked behind toppled tables and fallen chandeliers to make their way out of the room, and Shiro tried his best to prevent his errant gaze from focusing on the many wounded and most likely dead people that littered the room, grip still tight on Lance's arm to keep himself grounded to the task at hand. Throughout it all, Keith and Pidge sandwiched Lance between them in an effort to keep him out of sight of their assailants. More than luckily, no major mishaps faced them during their frantic escape from the banquet hall.

As they fled, Shiro was able to spot a few armed Galrans that he didn't recognize from Lord Zarkon's entourage, and his stomach roiled in dark anticipation.

"This was the Galran rebels' doing," Lance breathed once he had managed to regain his senses, leading them deeper into the castle.

"It seems like it," Keith growled. There was a touch of red staining his neck, but Keith himself appeared unharmed, so Shiro did he best not to think too much of it. He didn't have time for it. He felt like he never had enough time.

"Where are we going now?" Pidge asked.

Lance shook his head, turning a sharp corner. "To the hangar. The Galran rebels definitely got the advantage with this surprise attack of theirs, but I'm sure that the Altean castle guards will be able to deal with them in due time. At the same time, it's hard to say the extent of the damage that the Galran rebels will cause, so I'm going to throw you three into a scout ship to get away from this place until everything settles down." He sighed as he rounded another corner. "I just hope that some of the other guests are able to escape."

"Wait, hold up a second," Keith barked, sprinting forward to run beside Lance, "What do you mean 'you three'? If anyone's going to be sent off in a scout ship, it's you! Do you really think we'd let the Prince of Altea be left here without our protection?"

"He's right, Lance," Shiro added. "It won't do anyone any good to let you get hurt or captured."

Lance remained silent for a few moments before sighing. It hurt Shiro how sad it was. "I know. I know that, dammit!" He faltered momentarily before continuing on at Pidge's frantic insistence. "I hate it, being the one other people have to put themselves in harm's way to protect. Meanwhile, I do nothing but hide. But, I know that this is how it is: letting myself get captured here will give everyone more grief than it's worth. All four of us are going into that scout ship, though it might be a little crowded."

"Don't worry, we're not picky, especially considering how much less appealing our other options are," Shiro joked grimly. Lance smiled with tired grace.

Behind them, the sounds of struggle faded away until, eventually, the only echoes around them were that of their adrenaline-fueled footsteps and labored breaths.

"How far are the ships, anyway?" Pidge asked, legs losing their energy to match her strides to their longer ones. 

"We're almost there. I just hope that someone managed to get my father and Allura there already. It'd also be pretty great if Lord Zarkon escaped, too, or who knows how the Galra Empire will react to this whole mess, considering it happened in the Altean Royal Castle." Lance's words were heavy, weighed down by fear and anxiety, and, through his peripheral vision, Shiro could see a shimmer in Lance's eyes that couldn't be attributed to their natural gleam.

He wanted to say something, but couldn't think of any words that would be anywhere close to enough.

Then, just as promised, the four of them finally stumbled upon the castle's hangar. They found that Princess Allura and one of the Altean royal council members were there, too, laying prone near on of the ships.

Unfortunately, also within the hangar was one of the Galran rebel commanders, who they all noticed lurking in the shadows of one of the ships just a moment too late.

"Watch out!" Without warning, Lance leapt in front of Shiro before being catapulted across the room after a hit from the Galran's cybernetic arm that left Lance crumpled against the far wall.

As soon as Lance fell, Keith surged into action, activating his plasma sword before rushing towards the enemy. Pidge, too, rushed forward with her katar. For a second, the two of them had the advantage, landing a few sizable blows on the intruder. Then, the unknown Galran effortlessly gripped Pidge within his massive cybernetic arm, using the Quintessence that powered it to extend and contract his arm to disorient and fling Pidge down where Princess Allura and the royal council member lay.

"Is that the best you can do?" The Galran sneered, glancing down the Keith and Shiro menacingly. "Alteans have always been a weak bunch, spouting peace because they knew how powerless they were, but we refuse to let our proud Galra Empire fall into laughable feebleness like them, and we'll strike down traitorous members of our own kind if we must," he said, yellow stare directed at Keith. "Long live the rebellion!"

With Lance out of commission, Shiro and Keith fought against the Galran. Pidge, now up despite her wounds, tended to the princess, the orange-haired council member beside her, and Lance, who lay a few feet away as best as she could. She was a technological genius, though, not a master medic, but she was much more knowledge about helping people than Shiro or Keith. For not the first time, and most certainly not the last, Shiro was glad that Pidge seemed to know exactly what Shiro wanted her to do without actually having to tell explicitly tell her as much.

Between swings from the Galran's enhanced arm, the two alternated their attacks, with Keith using his sword while Shiro attacked with his prosthetic arm. Even so, the unknown Galran's own prosthetic arm proved difficult for the two of them to deal with; it was as fast as it was powerful, which was made all the worse by its incredible range, and one well-aimed Quintessnce -fueled attack more than enough to knock someone out, judging by Lance's current state. Even Keith's patent aggressively nimble barrage wasn't enough to bypass the rebel Galran's constant, far-reaching onslaught.

The assailant was not only ruthless, but also crafty as he pushed a wounded Pidge away to wrap up Princess Allura in his massive cybernetic grip while Keith and Shiro were preparing for another round of assaults. "Now, now, you two wouldn't want anything _unfortunate_ to happen to the Crown Princess of Altea, would you?" The wide smirk across his face was mocking, and Shiro was powerless to do anything about it.

Keith and Shiro's enraged silence was coated by the rebel Galran's acrid laughter. "No, I didn't think so. If you want her to stay alive, then I suggest that you two lay down your weapons and surrender."

Shiro began formulating an apology message to Pidge's mother that he was sure she would never get to hear before a single shot hurtled through the air like a blessed shooting star, hitting the rebel Galran's shoulder with a blast powerful enough to render him momentarily useless with his cybernetic arm notably damaged. As the Galran stumbled in pain, his body tilted to the side just enough that Shiro could see Lance, holding a plasma rifle close to his battered body, as he drifted back into unconsciousness.

Then, in a flash, Pidge lurched out from behind, and, with a beautifully arced attack with her katar that left the imprint in Shiros' mind that would forever. That burst of light resembled some beautiful, glittering green phoenix rising from the ashes of defeat, she cleanly sliced away the Galran's prosthetic arm, and the relief that flooded through Shiro's body was so intense it hurt.

The intruder wailed in agony as Princess Allura fell away from him, and, with their greatest threat now handicapped, Keith and Shiro were able to incapacitate him with little trouble courtesy of a great left hook, courtesy of Keith. Afterwards, Keith rushed to where Lance lay, drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness, lifting him lightly off the ground before testing for Lance's pulse.

"His pulse is weak, but his breathing is fairly steady," Keith announced.

Before Shiro could respond, he was stopped short by the sound of approaching footsteps encroaching upon them as they echoed ominously through the walls.

"Quickly," the royal attendant, now barely awake and limping, orange hair tinged nearly brown under soot, urged, pushing Lance towards Shiro and Keith, "those approaching footsteps could be either friend _or_ foe, so we cannot stay here any longer. It may be less efficient, but it will be better if we split up. Doing so will decrease the probability that any Galran rebels seize both ships before help arrives. You two, please take Prince Lance. I will go with Princess Allura and your other smaller friend here. The prince doesn't seem very well, but he is a scrappy one, so we'll just have to trust that he makes it out largely unscathed."

"But-" Keith began.

"No buts," Shiro interrupted. "He's right. Splitting up may weaken us, but it'll ultimately help prevent the Galran rebels from getting their hands on Prince Lance and Princess Allura to harm or use as hostages. If both of them are caught, Altea and the Galran Empire are trapped, especially considering the fact that we have no idea what King Alfor or Lord Zarkon's current status is. Pidge, are you ok with going with them?"

"Don't worry about me," she assured, panting slightly as she began boarding a nearby scouting ship alongside the injured royal advisor and still unconscious Princess Allura. At least Pidge was mostly healthy and whole, so Shiro didn't have to be decimated by guilt the next time he saw her mother. "I'll help keep Princess Allura safe, so I'm trusting you two to keep Prince Lance out of trouble."

"We'll try," Shiro promised, looking down Lance's ashen face where he lay in Shiro's arms. He just hoped that, this time, he could _keep_ his promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i keep doing this thing where i have so many story ideas that i end up starting all at the same time
> 
> which means that none of them get updated on a regular basis
> 
> my bad
> 
> please tell me what you think, though :)
> 
> (especially the "action" scene bc i've never really written anything like it before even though i basically stole it from 'crystal venom' i'm sorry)


	2. Chapter 2

Shiro didn't have much experience with Altean technology besides what he had accidentally picked up over the years. There had been instances where Lance and Shiro had stumbled upon an Altean ship hidden away at the Garrison, back when Shiro was still a fresh-faced student and Lance's presence graced the Earth. Shiro, as the straight-laced student he used to be, had tried to stop Lance's plans. Lance, being Lance, went ahead anyway. He had quickly learned that Lance, when he had set his sights on something with a passion that was an absolute _pleasure_ to witness, was an unstoppable force that was simply not meant to be quelled.

So, Shiro had quickly decided that there was no point in trying to persuade Lance to do otherwise because he had been far too enamored by the gleeful spark in Lance's eyes to actually want to stop him. As a result, Lance had taken advantage of their discovery to give Shiro a lesson on how to pilot an Altean ship that was so rushed by that Shiro was shocked that they didn't have a literal 'crash course' in the neighboring desert before they were able to return. It was a miracle that they didn't get caught. 

Shiro had wondered why an Earth Garrison would have an Altean ship stowed away without a clear reason, but Lance had just shrugged it off, unfazed. Lance reasoned that Altea, as a famously peace-driven planet, had probably allowed Earth to keep the ship for educational purposes, and Shiro was satisfied enough with the explanation. Altea was well-known for their eagerness to share their innovations with other planets, and a small-scale exploratory vessel didn't seem too out of the ordinary. As to how it had gotten there in the first place, that was a mystery that slipped away from Shiro's mind as Lance's bright laughter took over all of his senses.

Still, that was then, so many years ago that, at the present moment, felt like a whole other life. Thus, even though Shiro readily ducked into the scout ship with Keith beside him, like always, he did so with heaps of apprehension as the image of Lance, broken and bruised in Keith's arms, flitted through his peripheral vision.

"I know this is sudden, and you are most likely unfamiliar with how to operate Altean ships, but this is the best we can do considering the circumstances," Coran whispered as he entered a nearby ship with Princess Allura cradled precariously in his and Pidge's arms. "Please rest assured, though, that I will contact you right after both ships are in orbit, and then once more when it is safe for us to return to the castle, and I will open up the hangar doors in preparation for our departure. In the meantime, please note that, essentially, the big red button on the console will help you start the ship. Hopefully, basic piloting will come easily afterwards; I've heard exciting stories about you from Prince Lance, Captain Shiro, and rumors of prodigal expertise surround your second-in-command, so I do not doubt your piloting skills."

"The big red button will help us start the ship?" Keith grumbled after they scrambled inside, resting Lance on one of the seats in the main cabin. Lance didn't stir at all at the manhandling. "What does that mean? Those instructions are way too simple to be of any help to us. You'd think that if he really wanted us to help the prince, then you'd think he'd give us something more than that to work with."

"Well, from what I can recall, Altean ships are very simple to work with if you know what you're doing," Shiro answered, eyes frantically roving over the console.

"Yeah, but do either of us know what we're going?"

"A little bit," Shiro responded. "Besides, Lance has apparently been bragging about me around the castle, hyping up my piloting skills for who knows how long, and you're apparently being touted as a prodigy all the way in Altea; we can't prove them wrong now." Just as the voices began to turn into something distinguishable, taking life as aggressive grunts that echoed with the distinct hue of a hostile confrontation, Shiro found the elusive 'big red button'. "Keith, hold Lance down while I get the ship going, and don't forget to brace yourself, too."

Luckily, pressing the big red button actually did work. All the functions of the ship seemed to boot up after one push, and the basics of maneuvering the ship were generally the same as for those from Earth, though a little bit more sensitive and finicky; what amounted to nothing more than an accidental flick of the wrist for Earth vessels almost sent the ship catapulting into the wall. Nonetheless, once the hangar doors opened before them, Shiro, with some guiding directions from Keith, was able to easily follow the ship that Pidge had slipped into out of the castle.

As soon as they made it out, hangar doors closing on their tail engines, the royal advisor sent them a message just as promised. "I'm glad to see you that you two managed to find the big red button that I mentioned," he said. Even under the brighter lights of the ship, the man's usually bright orange hair was dusty under the heavy debris that swathed his body. "I don't think that the basic principles are terribly different from what you're most likely familiar with, but, before I cut the connection to avoid our communications being detected by anyone dangerous, is there anything you want me to go over with you quickly?"

Surprisingly, Shiro's old muscle memory from his brief, spontaneous adventure with Lance readily resurfaced along with the surge of heavy adrenaline clamping down at his throat, so piloting the ship was, surprisingly, the least of his worries at the moment, considering there was also a battered and bruised prince in the room with him.

"I guess I'd like some instruction on how to start the thrusters?" Shiro asked.

"Oh!" The man exclaimed. "You just have to press the blue button for that. Besides that, it seems to me that you're doing pretty well, from what I can see. Is it ok if I leave you for now? I know I must seem rude, but I don't want to risk anything."

"Yeah, no problem."

Suddenly, the screen cut off, leaving Shiro and Keith with an unconscious Prince of Altea in a foreign ship floating in the middle of foreign space.

"The blue button, huh?" Keith said to himself, pushing it once he found it on the console. As soon as he did, the ship's thrusters activated after a few rumbles gently rocked the ship before propelling them away from the Altean Royal Castle into the planet's orbit. "Looks like Altean ship controls really are pretty simple."

"I guess that's one crisis halfway averted," Keith muttered once that had reached orbit. Around them, the stars and darkness in-between were peaceful, with no sign of any hostile ships preparing for an assault on them. "No one around, huh? I wouldn't be surprised if whoever dropped off those Galran rebels high-tailed it out of Altean space immediately afterward the whole fiasco to avoid being found and shot down. I guess this is what 'triumph or die' is all about; either the rebel intruders were going to triumph in either the Altean royal family or Lord Zarkon, or they were going to die, stranded smack dab in the middle of enemy territory." Keith scoffed. "What a bunch of dumb shits. 'Long live the revolution', huh?"

"I agree. The Galran rebels have become much more active recently, probably in response to the new agreement between Altea and the Galran Empire, and, as much as I hate to think about it, it's likely that we'll probably encounter them wreaking more havoc across the galaxy at other planets we visit. I hope this new alliance ends up doing more good than bad, eventually," Shiro said, glancing down at where Lance was resting on one of the seats, still out cold. "How is Lance?"

Keith's ears swiveled flat against his skull, a display Shiro had come to associate with anxiety, as he bent down to check on Lance. "His pulse is stronger and less erratic, but now his breathing is more shallow."

"Do you think he's struggling to breathe because of cracked ribs or a punctured lung?"

Keith shook his head, eyes apologetic. "I'm not sure. You know I was never all that good with medicine. I'd trust your judgement about this over mine any day."

"Too bad I'm not much of a doctor either," Shiro sighed, looking back at the help screen. "Well, I guess it's good enough that he's alive and breathing, for now. Let's see if we can find the medical facilities on this ship. I doubt that there wouldn't be anything, even if it's just a short-distance scouting vessel."

Keith explored the ship while Shiro stayed in the main cabin to make sure that no foreign ship was around to catch them unawares. By the time Keith returned, the space around them was still empty. Shiro wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"I found a room that looks like it's for medical purposes," Keith announced, bending down besides Lance. "They have a lot of medical supplies that look vaguely familiar."

"Well, a lot of Earth's recent medical innovations were adapted from Altean ones," Shiro said as he also crouched down, grabbing Lance's legs while Keith took hold of his shoulders, "so hopefully one of us remembers how some of them work."

With Lance strewn limply between them, they shuffled their way to the medical room and tried to pretend like they weren't as scared and confused as they felt.

"Keith, don't move so quickly," Shiro chided. "We don't want to make him worse by accidentally jarring something out of place."

"Sorry, sorry," Keith hissed in response, barely avoided running backwards into a tight corner, "I'm just nervous, and I want to get him to the medical room as soon as possible. I hate seeing him like that. Altea, too, can't afford something this bad happening right now."

"I know, and I do too, but we can't panic at a time like this."

Keith sighed, slowing down his steps with a forlorn look at Lance's unconscious face. A few steps later, they made it into the medical room that Keith had discovered, which was bursting with hundreds of not-so-alien technology despite its diminutive size.

"So, from what I can tell, a lot of this is basically what we have on our ship. This screen on the wall over here should be the main body scanner," Shiro said after they gingerly laid Lance down onto the small bed while he fished out a bundle of wires out from underneath, "and, if we attach these probes at various points on Lance's body, then we should be able to get a reading of his overall status."

Applying the probes meant that they would have to undress Lance a bit, and, even though Shiro had spent plenty of night - and, admittedly, many days - during his earlier years at the Garrison dreaming about what it would be to get Lance in bed, or against the wall, or anywhere really, before taking his time to undressing him, slowly revealing his beautiful golden-brown skin, Shiro took no enjoyment from doing so now. Lance's suit, which was previously decorated by a simple, yet elegant white and blue design, was now covered in soot and barely-wet blood from the debris of that fight that felt so long ago.

After peeling it off, it was clearer to see just how hurt Lance was; his skin, that beautiful, warm skin of his, had vicious, dark purple and yellowing bruises blooming across his chest and lower back, and it was difficult to peel his suit away with how fast it stuck to Lance's skin through his drying blood.

It felt so utterly wrong to see someone as vibrant as Lance so lifeless that Shiro himself felt irrevocably and unfairly devastated.

"We just stick these probe patches all over him, then?" Keith whispered, eyes fixed on Lance laying prone on the bed.

"Yeah."

Gently, the two of them applied the probes all over Lance, concentrating most of them on his chest, back, and head where most of the damage was centralized. While Shiro was holding Lance up slightly off the bed to give Keith room to place some on Lance's back, Lance's eyes slowly fluttered open with a heavy groan.

"Lance? Are you awake?" Shiro asked as the monitor above him blinked into activity from a quick flick of a switch.

"Shiro? Where are we?" Lance asked, voice hoarse and eyes struggling to focus on Shiro's face above him.

"We're in a scout ship from the Altean Royal Castle's hangar. Do you remember leading us there after the attack at the castle during the speech?"

Lance groaned again, turning his head to the side to sluggishly look over at Keith fretting beside him. "Yeah, I remember now. Fuck. Are my father and sister ok?" Lance attempted to rise off the bed with the question, but Shiro lightly pushed him back down.

"I'm not sure about your father, but your sister was alive the last time we saw her. The princess went off in another scout vessel with Pidge, the girl that was with us earlier, and one of the Altean royal advisors. We haven't run into anyone while we've been out here, so they're probably safe, too," Shiro explained.

"One of the royal advisors? Did he have orange hair and an impressive mustache?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"I see," Lance breathed, finally beginning to relax against the bed. "That's good. Coran will make sure she's safe."

With the threat of Lance leaping out of the room in panic resolved for the time being, Shiro finally glanced up at the monitor with hopeful dread.

_/2 cracked ribs: ribs 8, 9/_

_/mild to moderate cranial contusion/_

_/grade 3 concussion/_

_/internal bruising in the following areas: ribs 3, 5; sternum/_

At least Lance's major organs were unharmed, and there were no signs of heavy internal bleeding. At that point, Shiro was going to take all of the small blessings that the universe was willing to offer him.

"How do you feel?" Keith asked, wiping away some of the dust caked on Lance's face with tender swipes of his thumb.

"Oh, you know, not the best, but being fawned over by two hotties almost makes it worth it," Lance teased, giving Keith a half-hearted wink that was cut short by an uncontrollable coughing spell.

"Lance!" Shiro reprimanded.

"Oh, come on, Shiro," Lance wheezed when he managed to gain control of the stale air in his lungs. "With you two staring down at me with those sad leglert eyes, how could I not try to lighten the mood?"

"Leglert?" Keith asked.

"It's like one of your Earth dogs, but bigger and with sharper teeth," Lance replied, "but, in my opinion, they're just as cute."

Shiro chuckled weakly, suddenly exhausted now that so much of the tension that had been keeping him together after the assault was rapidly draining out of him at seeing a somewhat happy Lance joking around with them, even if he wasn't exactly healthy.

"Are you two doing ok with the ship?" Lance asked, attempting to sit up again, much to Keith's annoyance. Keith immediately pushed him back down with a snarl that Lance sheepishly relented to. "I know you two are pretty fantastic pilots on Earth, but this is foreign alien tech you're dealing with."

"We'll be fine. Most of the basics aren't too difficult, and I do remember a few things from that mini-lesson you gave me a few years ago," Shiro responded, stepping forward to smooth down Lance's sweat-slick, dirt-heavy hair. "Thanks for that."

For a moment, Lance was utterly perplexed by Shiro's words, brows furrowed and eyes searching Shiro's face for a clue before the realization dawned upon him like the gentle blue sunrise across the Altean horizon that Shiro had woken up to that day. "I'm glad, Shiro."

 

* * *

 

 

After speaking with Prince Lance and administering an anodyne shot designed specifically for Altean physiology, as indicated by its soft teal color coding that Keith was starting to associate with everything and anything Altean, Shiro had gone back to the main cabin, leaving Keith alone with a now more subdued and loose-lipped prince; that anodyne shot was either really strong, or Lance's body was just incredibly weak to stuff like that.

"Say, Keith," Lance said, leaning on one elbow so he could scoot his face closer to Keith's, "you and Shiro are pretty close, huh?"

"You could say that," Keith answered vaguely, patiently pushing Lance back down onto his back once again. "Please don't move, Prince Lance, your ribs are too damaged for you to do anything besides lay still while we wait for better medical help."

"Aww, don't worry, Keith, I can barely feel a thing anymore." It looked like the shot really was just that strong. "Anyway, you don't have to be so formal with me; Shiro just calls me Lance, and, after all the bullshit we just went through, I think it's more than acceptable for you to drop the 'prince' part now."

"If you say so Pr... Lance."

" _Anyway,"_ Lance drawled, staring at Keith with big, just slightly unfocused eyes, "I want to know how you and Shiro met. He seems much cooler now than he used to."

"Did Shiro used to be uncool?"

"Nah ah ah," Lance tittered, wagging his finger at Keith with an adorable sloppiness that made Keith want to coo with delight, "I didn't say that. Shiro was always cool. It's just that he's way cooler now."

"He has changed a bit," Keith said, handing Lance a bottle of water in response to Lance's silent request for it, grabby hands and all, "but I still think he's basically the same as ever."

"You're not wrong," Lance agreed. "Back at the Garrison, even when he was all fresh-faced instead of all manly like he is now, he always had that air of competence and..." he floundered for the word, "leadership around him, and he always did well in training. I suspected great things from him from the very beginning and, look at where he is now; not only is he the captain of his own space exploration crew, he also helped save foreign royalty from who knows what."

"Yeah, well, sometimes you never know what each day's going to bring, I suppose."

"And you too!" Lance exclaimed, accidentally sloshing water across both of their laps in his haste before Keith confiscated the bottle away from him. "You're pretty great, too, and even cuter than any leglert or dog I've ever seen!"

Keith was glad that the deep purple color of his skin helped to conceal the heavy blush that he could feel spreading vicious warmth across his face like lightning fire.

Blissfully unaware, Lance kept talking. "Anyway, I'm a horrible royal host for not asking before, but are you and Shiro ok?"

In all honesty, between the wounded Altean Prince and Princess, coupled with the frenzied nature of their escape, Keith didn't even think about himself until that moment. "Yeah, we're ok. That shot that you managed to fire off really saved us all."

Lance smiled. "And Pidge?"

"The last we saw her, she was fine enough to walk and talk without much trouble."

"That's good. Sendak didn't hold anything back back there."

"Sendak? Was the name of the Galran rebel who attacked us in the hangar?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, though that arm of his was definitely a new pain in the ass he was carrying around."

"Do you know the identity of all the Galran rebels?" Keith asked, amazed.

"Nah, that would be too helpful. No, I just recognized Sendak because I had known him before the Galran rebellion even began. He was the son of one of the senior members of the Galra Guard, and, with it being nearly certain that he would join it later on, he was always at important events and stuff as a part of his training." Lance paused, exhaling heavily. "He was also good friends with Lotor back then, and I guess that should've been my clue that he was also going to be a big part of this mess."

"Still," Lance continued, "Sendak was never actually that good of a fighter before; the only reason he was trouble in the castle was because of that damn arm of his."

"Alien tech has always been unpredictable. I guess that holds true even for more advanced planets like Altea," Keith said.

"No, that arm was not alien. I mean, it was alien as in _extraterrestrial_ for you guys on Earth, but it wasn't alien as in unfamiliar."

"What do you mean?"

"That arm was definitely created through some Galran Druid magic," Lance lamented, running his fingers through his hair in agitation. " _Strong_ Druid magic, considering how much Quintessence was packed into that thing, which means a whole lot of problems for everyone." He sighed in frustration, and the monitor began displaying a rapid rise in cortisol levels through Lance's body.

"Hey," Keith hushed, replacing Lance's disheartened fingers with his own, lacing his fingers through Lance's hair with large, comforting strokes. "Even if that's true, don't stress yourself out over it. For now, you should focus on staying calm and limiting your movements so you don't wind up accidentally hurting yourself even more."

Lance sighed, leaning into Keith's touch. "You're right; I'm sorry. It's just, not even a nice, strong anodyne shot can keep those Galran rebels from pissing me off, apparently."

Keith laughed, moving his hand down to Lance's cheek. "Don't worry, I understand, but, the sooner you recover, the faster you can return to being able to safely get as pissed as you want."

Lance chuckled weakly in return. "And it looks like there'll be plenty of opportunities in the future to do just that."

The two of them let a comfortable silence wash over them with only the sound of Lance's slow and steady heartbeat surrounding them until Lance fell asleep. After some time, Keith was tempted to return to the main cabin to check on Shiro, whom he hadn't heard from ever since he left, but, ultimately, Keith trusted Shiro to be able to take care of himself. So, just in case anything happened to Lance, he remained in the medical room, keeping a firm grip on Lance's hand as he dozed off. The whole time, Lance's hand was just so soft and warm that Keith couldn't help himself from caressing the back of Lance's hand.

However, it wasn't much later before Shiro finally returned, poking his head in with a tired, but promising smile. "We got the ok from the royal advisor, Coran, to return," Shiro announced happily. "All of the rebel intruders have been dealt with, and Altean space is clear of hostile invaders. Best of all, King Alfor and Princess Allura are both alive and safe, Pidge apparently had the time of her life examining all of the Altean tech with Coran ready to explain to her what everything did, and everyone's beyond eager for Lance to return home."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

 

* * *

 

 

Lance later woke up to the sound of concerned people and the sight of haggard faces hovering over him. However, a handful of gentle words from Keith and Shiro coaxing him to rest were more than enough for Lane to feel safe enough to close his eyes again, but only for a few more minutes. Then, he would properly thank them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda short, but it seemed like a good place to stop
> 
> please let me know what you think :)


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as Keith and Shiro piloted the scout ship they back to the Altean Royal Castle hangar with relief so potent that it hurt, all three of them were whisked away to the castle's medical suite with impressive efficiency. The castle guards and employees eagerly snatched Lance out of their grip, causing Lance to rouse in confusion. It was easy enough to convince Lance to keep sleeping, and, after a brief overview of Lance's injuries, they were all dumped into healing pods.

Shiro had come across Altean healing pods before in large-scale hospitals on Earth after the Altean Sovereign, in one of their numerous displays of goodwill, had donated some. Ever since, Earth engineers and technological experts had worked hard to study and re-invent them in ways that required less energy to use. From what Shiro understood during one of Pidge's regular in-depth explanations of concepts that went far above Shiro's head, the volatile nature of Altean's weather, atmosphere, and overall biosphere gave them many more efficient energy sources to take advantage of.

As usual, Shiro struggled to keep up with Pidge the more she told him. The difficult technical jargon she rattled off increased in time with her mounting excitement, but, at the end, Shiro liked to think that he basically understood what she was telling her. With that, Shiro managed to glean that the healing pods on their ship, one designed on Earth in the likeness of the ones received from Altea, were both slower and less effective because their ship could only carry so many energy stores.

So, when it only took a little more than half an hour for Shiro and Keith to make a full recovery, Shiro was understandably amazed by the results; their bodies were completely devoid of new scars, though old marks remain, and, for anyone who had no idea of what they had gone through in one of the castle's hangar, they would never be able to guess that they had undergone a violent confrontation with a powered-up Galran rebel. Sendak was his name, apparently.

From the back of his mind, a small voice niggled at Shiro that the name was ominously familiar. He ignored it, like so many of those other treacherous voices.

"Looks like you two are finally awake!" Pidge said, rising from where she was sitting, waiting for them. A cubical piece of alien technology hovered beside her.

"It's nice to see you, too, Pidge," Shiro replied, stretching his arms and legs out. "You feeling ok?"

"Yup! These Altean healing pods are the real deal. Hopefully they'll let me study them before it's time for us to leave."

"How is the Altean Royal Family?" Keith asked.

"The prince and princess are still in their own healing pods. I'm not sure exactly how long they have to stay in them because the guards won't tell me, even though they know that I helped save the, but I doubt we'll see them for awhile. I don't know the exact severity of their wounds, but the castle is probably in a huge tizzy and hyper-vigilant after what happened." Pidge paused. "Oh, Coran is that guy I went with into the other ship, by the way."

"Yes, we know. Hopefully we can speak with him later," Shiro said. "How's King Alfor?"

"From what I was able to find out, both him and Lord Zarkon are alive, but there may be something else going on with Lord Zarkon," Pidge replied.

"What does that mean?" Keith asked.

Pidge shrugged. "I can't say for certain, but I think it has to do with his age; I heard murmurs about how 'even someone like Lord Zarkon can only weather so much at his age', or something like that."

"And how did you hear about that?" Shiro interrogated, arms crossed and gaze unimpressed. "Were you snooping around again?"

Pidge smiled sheepishly. "Oh, come on, you know I'm a curious person, and it's not my fault people overlook me because of my age. It's their fault for not stopping me from listening in."

"I'm not sure if it's because of your age, or more because they _physically_ can't help but overlook you," Keith sniggered, leaning over Pidge teasingly, much to Pidge's faux-offense.

Shiro laughed and felt at ease for the first time in what felt like days, but was in reality only a few hours.

The three of them loitered around in the medical suite for some time longer before Coran found them. He looked haggard and mildly distressed, but he grinned at them gratefully. "I'm overjoyed to see that you three are doing well. I'm terribly sorry for all of the trouble that you got dragged into today. I can assure you, Altea is usually a great place for visitors, even if occasionally the weather is less than... ideal compared to the fair climate on Earth."

"Please don't apologize," Shiro said, waving off Coran's concerns. "We're more than grateful to you for looking over our comrade Pidge in the aftermath."

"Of course. Pidge was a delight to travel with!" Coran exclaimed, clapping his hands together happily. "But I imagine that you three must be exhausted after today's events. Please, allow me to guide you to your quarters."

Despite his curiosity regarding the state of the castle and its inhabitants, Shiro's mind and body, still deeply exhausted even after his time in the healing pod, was more than ready to get some rest. Coran had assigned Keith and Shiro to separate rooms, but Shiro was glad that Keith ended up slipping into his bed later in the night.

"Today was exciting, huh?" Keith whispered, ears twitching in exasperation.

"At least it gave us a good story to tell people," Shiro said.

Keith simply huffed fondly in response, ears soft against Shiro's cheek.

 

* * *

 

The first thing Lance saw after he ungracefully stumbled out of his healing pod was a worried and weary Coran, head resting heavy on his hands, fingers interlaced tightly with anxiety. At the sound of Lance's rude awakening, Coran's head snapped upward, and Lance was able to catch the barest glimpse of fear in Coran's eyes before it was swept away by joyous relief at the sight of Lance, awake and alive.

"Prince Lance!" Coran exclaimed, jumping up to help steady Lance through a hearty embrace. "Oh, I'm so relieved to see you up and well!"

"It's nice to see you doing well, too, Coran," Lance breathed, returning the embrace with tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. "Where's Allura?"

"The princess recovered a few hours before you. She went to her quarters to rest for awhile longer," Coran said, smoothing some fluffy pieces of Lance's hair down. "I advise you do the same, Prince Lance."

"How is my father?" Lance asked quickly, ignoring Coran's heavy suggestion. "How long has it been since the assault?"

"Rest assured, both the King and Lord Zarkon are well. It is currently the afternoon of the following day, but that is irrelevant. You need to rest, Prince Lance," Coran said sharply.

"At least let me see my father," Lance pleaded. He mounted a pitiful pout on his face while staring up at Coran with teary eyes, sprung as a result of Lance's great acting skills.

Coran, despite being basically a babysitter of Lance's that had witnessed all of his tricks and shenanigans while growing up, still couldn't resist. With a defeated sigh, Coran relented. "Alright, Prince Lance, you win. I will take you to see His Majesty."

As they moved through the castle corridors, passing by a blur of castle employees who fussed over him, Lance wondered. He wondered about the plans of the Galran rebels, exactly how well his father, sister, and Lord Zarkon were, and what the damages of the assault ultimately amounted to. As one of the few human castle employees bowed at him, Lance's thoughts veered and crashed into Keith and Shiro. How were those two doing? What did they think of Altea now after being dragged into a conflict that, for the moment, had little to do with Earth?

Were they thinking about Lance, too?

He tried to pushed those thoughts away when he and Coran came to a stop in front of his father's room, flanked by some of the Altean Guard's premium soldiers and even some of the Galran Empire's famed warriors, but Shiro and Keith wouldn't leave his mind. Allura had always teased Lance about how easily he loved, while his father not-so-secretly lamented over the fact. Lance never tried to deny the claim because he wasn't a liar, though it even perplexed himself, at times, but he bet that plenty of people found themselves enamored by Keith and Shiro; it was hard not to, in his opinion.

However, this was no time for having a crush, much less _two_ of them at once, so Lance walked past the guards with a tired sigh as he pushed open his father's door with a reassuring smile from Coran as he closed the door behind him.

"Lance! What are you doing up? You should be resting!" His father exclaimed at the first sight of Lance's toe edging into the room, sitting up from his place in bed abruptly.

Lance's father certainly looked well enough, and just looking at him, whole and not as defeatedly ashen as Lance had imagined through a haze of fear, unwound the cold tension running down Lance's back. He did feel a bit guilty at the concern that billowed across his father's face at the sight of Lance, up and walking and talking, but his relief blew it away.

"I wanted to see you, father," Lance replied, sitting down at the edge of his bed. "I _had_ to see you."

His father sighed, laying back with a gentle smile. "Your sister said the same thing."

"She already visited you?"

"A few hours ago, yes."

"How are you feeling?" Lance whispered, pushing himself closer towards his father. "Did everything get handled well?"

His father sighed again. "I'm fine. The situation is under control now, but I can't say that it was resolved all that 'well'." Another sigh, tired and heavy. "There were quite a few casualties."

"But Lord Zarkon is ok?"

"He's alive, but I'm not sure if he'll be able to lead the Galran Empire as its sole ruler now," his father confessed.

"What does that mean?" Lance asked.

"He's weakened, but not so much that he's incapacitated. Still, I think this attack really showed how much his age is starting to affect him. I have no doubt that Lord Zarkon will start preparing a successor with more vigor than he ever has before."

"Do you think it'll be Commander Prorok?"

"It's very likely," Lance's father responded.

Considering silence filled the room before Lance spoke again, careful and concerned. "I don't know if Coran or Allura already talked about the Galran rebel that attacked us in the hangar," Lance began.

"Only a little bit before Allura left with Coran to rest more, but she was set upon fairly quickly. She didn't see much before she fell unconscious."

"It was Sendak."

His father inhaled through his mouth, preparing to respond, before he was interrupted by a weighty knock on the door. "Your Majesty, Lord Zarkon would like to speak with you."

"Please welcome him in," his father answered, sitting up with a groan. Lance, in turn, got ready to leave the two of them to a private conversation before his father stopped him. "Lance, please stay. I think Lord Zarkon would appreciate to hear more about the assailant you faced."

With a soft slam, Lord Zarkon entered, following by Commander Prorok. All four of them in the room gave one another deep bows before Lance cocked his head nervously, staring at Lord Zarkon's lower chin as Lance addressed him. "If you would allow it, I would like to take part in your conversation with my father," Lance stated. He hoped he didn't stutter, but he was sure that he most certainly did.

Surprisingly enough, Lord Zarkon simply chuckled good-naturedly before resting a large, warm hand on Lance's shoulder. "Of course, young prince. This discussion involves you and your sister as much as it does me and your father. It's unfortunate that Princess Allura isn't here, too."

"I could go get her," Lance offered.

Before anyone had time to answer, Allura strutted into the room, head held high despite how her weariness creeping under her eyes betrayed her true state. "No need, I am already here."

"Allura!" their father admonished. "Were you eavesdropping?"

Allura shrugged. "I witnessed Lord Zarkon," she paused to give Lord Zarkon a quick bow, "enter your quarters, and I figured that the conversation you were about to have was going to be important. I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to take part, but, after hearing Lord Zarkon's desire to have me in attendance, I figured that it would be appropriate for me to join in."

Once again, his father sighed. The last time Lance could remember his father sighing this much in such a short amount of time was when a much younger Lance had cried over a guy that wasn't even worth the time of day, much less tears. Unfortunately, it took Lance a touch too long to discover that for himself.

On the other hand, Lord Zarkon just laughed again. "It's nice to see that your children are so strong-willed, Alfor."

"More like stubborn," his father retorted. Nonetheless, the discussion finally began. "What would you like to discuss, Lord Zarkon?"

"I came here to discuss the future actions that we should enact against these pests disguised as revolutionaries," Lord Zarkon hissed, sitting down across from Alfor with heavy thump.

"I'm not sure if we should do anything, just yet," King Alfor said, folding his hands in front of him thoughtfully. "The full extent of their capabilities is still largely unknown to us, so it would most likely not benefit us to move in for an attack without any concrete knowledge of what they have at their disposal for a counterattack."

"Furthermore, we also don't know exactly how far their influence extends," Allura added. "We've only just recently learned about some of the footholds they have in various points of the galaxy. Their leverage is so powerful and invasive that the affected areas and peoples are so deeply under their control that it's near impossible for them to get out a distress signal."

Silence. Thoughts ran through all of their minds, Lance's too, as he awaits the response from the Galrans. Do they already know what he thinks he's discovered? Then, from Commander Prorok, "Your Liege, they are correct. It would be disadvantageous to strike now without too sufficient information."

"But we cannot do nothing in retaliation!" Lord Zarkon argued, expression contorted in rage. "I will not let these _vermin_ come out of this unscathed!"

It seemed as though they didn't know. "Lord Zarkon, I apologize for interrupting," Lance began, "but I have to ask, is the great druid Haggar still loyal to the Galran Empire?"

Another flood of silence. It made Lance nervous. This was part of the reason he hated these formal talks because, despite how they were often driven by serious and usually time-sensitive issues, everyone involved love to just stare at each other in silence for minutes on end.

"Haggar is no longer a member of the Galran Empire Court," Lord Zarkon finally replied, words slow and calculated. It wasn't a direct admission, but it said enough.

"Allura and I were assaulted by what I suspect was a high-ranking Galran rebel in the castle hangar during our efforts to escape," Lance continued. "Our assailant was Sendak." Both Lord Zarkon and Commander Prorok flinched, almost imperceptibly, but not quite. "He had a cybernetic arm enhanced by Quintessence. _Massive_ amounts of Quintessence."

The next round of silence didn't last long, thankfully. "You suspect that Haggar is affiliated with the Galran rebels?" Commander Prorok asked.

"Do you not? I can't think of another explanation for that arm."

"I agree," Allura said. "That arm was too advanced and imbued with such a great amount of pure Quintessence for anyone except Haggar to have designed, from what I've heard."

"Well, this certainly complicates matters," King Alfor pondered aloud.

Lord Zarkon growled, standing up abruptly. "Curse that Haggar. She's so blinded by her desire to create those abominations that she can't see what she's doing to her own people." He paced around the room for a few moments before turning, hell deep in his eyes as they stared at someone far away. "Alfor, you are correct; there's nothing to be done just yet, not if they have Haggar nestled in their ranks. I apologize for disturbing your rest."

"Please, do not apologize," King Alfor responded, standing up to see Lord Zarkon away, "and do get some rest yourself; I do not doubt that we will have much to discuss for an unforeseeable amount of time to come, so it would not do for any of us to overexert ourselves when it has just begun."

They give each other all quick, flustered bows out of pure courtesy. Then, as if he were listening to the whole conversation with his ear pressed tight against the door, Coran opened the door just as Lord Zarkon and Commander Prorok were getting ready to leace. He closed it again with a sad smile.  
  
Another sigh escaped his father's lips. Lance wished he knew how to make him feel better.

"Haggar's with them, now? This is quickly becoming a much greater problem than I had initially anticipated," his father groaned, laying back down onto his bed with a groan and heavy eyelids.

Lance wondered if he was thinking about those 'abominations' that they had read about in records of days gone by, the ones that had ravaged Altea during times of turmoil when Lord Zarkon didn't see enough use in Altea to care. He wondered if his father was thinking about those video recordings that everyone had always told Lance not to watch, which of course meant that he had watched them anyway: the ones where carnage, real and raw, at the hands of those 'abominations' littered the castle halls once upon a time while Lance's grandfather yet lived. He wondered if his father was thinking about that errant 'abomination' from a more tumultuous time that even Lord Zarkon denounced; they had discovered that one too late, wreaking havoc on a desecrated Balmera, its people gone before they could destroy it.

Lance wondered if his father was afraid.

Once, Lance's father had revealed that, while Lord Zarkon was the most formidable of the Galran people, Haggar was the most terrifying of them all.

Lance wondered what that meant for them.

"We'll leave you to rest and consider the situation in peace," Allura said, giving their father a quick peck on the cheek after rising from her seat.

"Rest well, father," Lance whispered, allowing Allura to gently lead him away by his arm.

"You too, my dear children. I am sorry I didn't protect you better."

The door clicked behind them with barely a whisper, but it sounded like a punch to the gut. Or maybe Lance was just soft. 

"Lance, now is not the time to cry," Allura consoled, leading him towards his own room with help from Coran. "Everyone is safe, and, even if the future seems bleak for now, at least we are all well enough to face it."

"Your sister is right, Prince Lance," Coran quipped, opening the door to Lance's room for him, "so, please get some rest. Afterwards, I suspect that all those 'what if's' running through your mind will begin to settle down."

They leave him, but not without loving kisses on both cheek, and Lance collapsed on his bed with his own sigh. He was more exhausted than he had anticipated, the initial adrenal pulling his strings taut now wasted away, so he fell asleep with ease.

Still, right as Lance closed his eyes, thoughts of Shiro and Keith, including their handsome voices and soothing smiles, return with a vengeance.

"Oh, come on, Lance," he whispered to himself, "control yourself."

 

* * *

 

 

A handful of days passed, and Keith hadn't caught a single sighting of Lance anywhere. He understood why, of course, and would never demand to see him with the castle all flustered and working tirelessly to recover from the attack, but he missed Lance nonetheless. At least he had received word that Lance and the rest of the royal family were recovering well, the information splintered amongst numerous words of thanks for their help.

In the meantime, Keith, Shiro, and Pidge attempted to help with castle restoration efforts, despite the assertions that they had already done enough and should instead rest. However, by the time they were relieved from being questioned by castle officials regarding what they saw of the Galran rebels, including any memorable faces or names, of which all they can provide basically consists of 'Sendak' and 'horribly inconvenient cybernetic arm fueled by even more inconvenient amounts of Quintessence', the reparations of the banquet hall and nearby areas was all but complete.

"Look at all these little builder robots they've got working here," Pidge marveled, hovering around the industrious devices. "I would love having one of these around the ships."

"But then what would happen to your job?" Keith asked.

"Then I would have enough free time to do all of the technological tinkering that I want," Pidge responded, "and, ultimately, wth all my great innovations, we will all be the better for it."

Keith found it hard to disagree.

Once it was even more blatantly obvious that their help wasn't needed, the three of them wandered away to find Coran to talk to him more as a couple of pseudo-ambassadors from Earth.

Or maybe it was because they wanted to try to see if they could see Lance again.

"Don't look so down, Keith," Pidge teased. "I bet you'll see your almost lover-boy again at least once more before we leave. Besides, you already have your _other_ lover boy here," she said, motioning at Shiro, "so it's not like you're missing out on your one true love if not."

"Yeah, but he's cute," Keith grumbled.

"And you," Pidge continued, now looking accusingly at Shiro, "are also taking this harder than I thought either of you would. You guys are in so deep, and it just had to be a prince of a foreign planet, didn't it?"

Shiro shrugged unapologetically. "Well, I did know him and have a pretty significant crush on him a few years ago. I'm not surprised that it returned with a vengeance."

Pidge shook her head, unimpressed. "And they always say that women are the emotional ones. Look at you two."

Through their wandering, the three of them accidentally stumbled upon the kitchens. There, they accidentally stumbled upon Lance speaking to a bulky Altean.

"Hunk, they have _Haggar_ with them. Who knows what they're planning with her on their side?" Lance wailed. The other Altean named Hunk, apparently, silently handed Lance the spoon he was just using to mix with, which Lance took without as much as a second glance and licked.

Keith tried not to think unsavory thoughts at the sight. He failed.

"It's definitely not a nice revelation, but it won't do any of us any good to just sit around and constantly worry about it." Hunk paused, turning around to retrieve more ingredients before returning to the dish he was preparing.

Lance sighed, throwing his elbows onto the counter and his head into his hands. "I know, but I hate just being cooped up in the castle like this. There's so much shit going on, more desperate distress signals are being sent our way, and even more signs of the Galran rebel's intergalactic destruction are being spotted all over the place, but I can't do anything about it because, suddenly, my father disapproves of me traveling and training on other planets! I'm going crazy with wondering about all these 'what if's' because that's all I can do here!"

After his mini-tirade, Lance started licking the spoon with even more fervor, which did both nothing and everything to Keith.

"Your father 'suddenly disapproves of you traveling and training on other planets?'" Hunk gave Lance a stale look. "You _know_ why. You just said it yourself; the king is just trying to protect you now that the influence of the Galran rebel forces is growing. Lance, now is not the time to go galavanting across the universe."

Lance sighed, setting the spoon down. "I know, I know, but I don't want to be coddled and protected here. I'd much rather be out there, trying to stop the issue at the source, rather then stuck here, scared and trembling. Besides, it's not like the Galran rebels can't harm me while I'm here, as we saw four days ago."

Hunk turned on the stove-esque device. "Look, Lance, it's not like I disagree with you, but you have to understand where your father and everyone else is coming from. You're the Prince of Altea. You're not the kind of person that we can just throw out in the middle of battle like that and expect everything to turn out alright if the worst happens."

Finally, the three interlopers revealed themselves; they were used to sneaking around for information, but now they had learned too much of what they had no right knowing.

"Hey!" Shiro announced awkwardly, hand up like a peace offering. "Sorry, we were just wandering around and ended up here. Is it alright for us to be here?"

"Shiro!" Lance exclaimed, face lighting up with glee at the sight of them. "And Pidge, too!"

"Hey!" Keith huffed, crossing his arms across his chest dramatically at Lance's teasing grin and glimmering eyes. "I don't get a happy hello?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Lance asked, quivering smirk giving away his little game.

"What? We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!" Keith argued, encroaching upon Lance as he played along.

"Nope, don't remember; didn't happen." Lance said, turning his head away. However, his charade only lasted a moment longer before he turned back to Keith, gentle smile flaring across his face. "No, of course I remember, and of course you're all welcome here. Meet my friend, Hunk. He's one of our greatest aspiring engineers and a great cook, to boot."

Hunk waved at them congenially. "Nice to meet you guys! I'm cooking a dish with some fresh polous, which is perfectly edible for humans, too. Would you like some?"

Suddenly, the five of them are huddled together in the kitchen, talking and laughing with each other so easily that it would scare Keith if he wasn't so taken by Lance's smile.

Over their meals, that tasted delicious regardless of what exactly a 'polous' was, Hunk and Pidge bonded over their overwhelming knowledge, technological terms flying across them in a flurry of confusion.

"Hey, how about we all step out for some fresh air?" Lance asked Keith and Shiro, hilariously wagging his eyebrows as his eyes shown with mirth. "It's not like any of us can add anything to their conversation, anyway."

"Sounds good," Shiro responded, offering Lance his hand to help Lance up from his seat. "We've never been able to keep up with Pidge, so it's nice to see her with someone on par with her."

The three of them slipped out of the kitchen, departure gone unnoticed amongst the complicated conversation flowing away behind them. As they walked, Lance, seemingly unconsciously, drifted closer towards Keith, his arms brushing against Keith's every so often. His arm was soft and warm, and Keith reveled in those fleeting touches.

The journey passed by in silence, though many employees that they walk by along the way are seconds away from releasing muffled whispers at the strange sight of the three of them floating through the castle, but Lance let out a happy sigh as he pushed open a grand door hidden away in the depths of the castle.

"This is one of my favorite places in the castle," Lance revealed. Inside, Keith couldn't see anything inside that seemed worthwhile. In fact, he couldn't see much of anything besides a large, empty room with a lone pedestal in the center. "I know it doesn't look like much right now, but, here," Lance lead Keith and Shiro to the pedestal, "lay your hand down flat here and think of a someplace you want to be."

Shiro gestured for Keith to take the honors. It took Keith a moment to decide on a place he wanted to be because there were few places that he had ever thought with any ounce of fondness. Eventually, hesitantly, he lay his palm, broad and dusted with purple fur across the back, down and imagined.

Suddenly, and in small fragments that, initially, meant nothing to Keith besides flowing pixels in that increasingly familiar baby blue, the empty room transformed into the main bridge of their ship, _The Redeemer_. From the corner of his eye, Shiro, driven by impulse and instinct, ran his fingers over the large chair that had materialized in the middle, smooth and solid: _his_ chair.

"This is amazing," Shiro breathed, moving away to explore more of the room. "I didn't know Altean technology could do this."

"It's still a little new," Lance said, exploring the newly constructed bridge himself, "but it's pretty amazing. Speaking of amazing, the ship they gave you is really nice, Shiro. I'm jealous, to be honest."

"Altea probably has better ships than this, if you guys have tech so advanced that it can access people's minds like this," Keith murmured, overwhelmed by the fact that everything around them had been fashioned straight from his mind.

Lance looked at him apologetically, eyes sad and Keith hurt by the fact that he had somehow mad Lance anything less than happy. Faintly, his ears twitched at the soft exhale at Shiro's chuckling, and Keith did not appreciate his partner laughing at his embarrassingly obvious crush. "Sorry I didn't warn you about that. I wanted it to be a surprise, but, in hindsight, I probably wasn't the best idea. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable by probing into your mind."

Hastily, Keith worked to explain himself and dash that light frown on Lance's face, much to Shiro's continued amusement that, even if Keith can't see it, knows must be hidden somewhere on his face. "No, it's fine. I'm just surprised, is all."

The satisfied smile returned to Lance's face, and Keith basked in it. "Anyway, Altean ships are great, but there's something so satisfying about seeing all these different stations and stuff. That was always one of my favorite things about Earth ships."

"What are Altean ships like?" Shiro asked.

"Nowadays, most Altean ships have this same kind of technology which means that, most of the time, one single person can man the whole ship with the proper training. It's not as exciting, in my opinion, though it is much more efficient," Lance explained.

"Sounds like it," Keith said. "I wouldn't mind trading in our ship for something like that."

Lance hummed. "Honestly, I doubt my father would say no if you asked after what you did for us during the Galran rebel attack, but then I don't know what you would do with your ship."

Shiro sighed, hands back on his chair. "Unfortunately, the Alliance probably won't appreciate us leaving the ship behind, even if it's on another Alliance planet."

"Still, traveling across the galaxy in this ship doesn't seem bad at all," Lance mused, hands roving against the panels.

They stayed there for some time, Shiro and Keith explaining the functions of various panels and buttons to Lance, who marveled and looked at them so starry-eyed that Keith could swear that the miniature moons in his eyes were set to burst. He looked breathtaking, and Keith wanted to breathe him in. Shiro, too, was just as taken, if the steady increase in the warm musk emanating off of him meant anything. However, not enough time passed, at least, not enough for Keith to have been satisfied enough with Lance's presence, before night fell heavily enough for even Lance to deem the day over.

"I'm so disappointed that this has to end," Lance lamented as the room around them dissolved back into nothingness. "I feel like I've been cooped up in here forever, and you guys are such a breath of fresh air. I hate when we have to part, and it sucked to not be able to see you two because everyone was watching me like mawuts these past few days like I'm so sad damsel in distress," he ended, faux-swooning in exaggerated despondency.

"Well," Shiro drawled lazily, moving towards Lance, "we don't have to part, just yet."

Keith swiveled his head to face Shiro. Shiro, in turn, glanced at Keith, gaze pointed and punctuated by a single question. Keith hesitated, but only for the barest second, before excitement and arousal overtook him. He nodded. Shiro nodded back.

"What do you mean?" Lance asked, confused by their wordless agreement.

"We mean," Keith jumped in, also closing in on Lance, "that you don't have to go to bed alone. You can join us."

Lance looked at Keith, silent. Then, over at Shiro. Back to Keith. He opened his mouth before closing it without a word. His scent, sweet and heavy, rose and encompassed them all.

Lance opened his mouth again, a faint flush gusting over his cheeks. "Ok."

His eyes were bursting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope everyone seems in-character
> 
> please let me know what you think :)


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as they stumbled into Lance's room, furnished with a large, plush bed that Keith couldn't wait to fall into to with the two gorgeous men beside him, Lance had wrapped himself around Keith with an absolutely sinful neediness. He kissed Keith with vigor, breath warm and heady as he moved all of them towards the bed until Keith landed on it with a soft thump as Lance, still on top of him, eagerly kissed him. Past Lance's labored breathing, Keith could just about hear Shiro approach the two of them making out on the bed like desperate teenagers with a breathless chuckle. The sight of Shiro's shirt being dropped onto the floor flashed across Keith's peripheral vision before Lance demanded his full attention once more.

Lance tasted as sweet as he smelled. Keith had never considered himself as much of a sweets person, but he adored everything about Lance, as if he were a fine confection that Keith never knew that he craved until he had finally had a sampler taste of it for himself. Keith shifted his attention from Lance's wet and warm mouth to his neck, that long and beautiful neck that was just begging to be marked up, and laved at it with hungry desperation. Shiro allowed the two of them to gleefully indulge themselves while he continued to undress himself. Once he had rid himself of his pesky trousers, Shiro pressed his chest against Lance's still clothed back, effectively sandwiching the prince between Keith and Shiro. Lance keened delightfully, throwing his head back to allow Shiro access to his neck. Keith lamented not being in easy reach of Lance's neck anymore, but he was also excited to watch Shiro take his place.

"Have you ever been with two people before?" Shiro gusted in-between sucking at Lance's throat.

"Nope," Lance replied breathlessly, pulling Keith tighter against himself, "but I trust you two to help lead me through a great first threesome orgasm."

Keith huffed out a chuckle, completely endeared and beyond determined to meet Lance's expectations; if he did, then all them more chance that they might be able to do this again, and, at the moment, he couldn't think of anything better.

In the back of his mind, Keith did his best to not think about the fact that Keith and Shiro had to leave Altea and Lance behind in a few days ago.

Keith was still completely dressed, and the room was getting way too hot for him to stay that way. He reluctantly removed himself from Lance's grasp as Lance whined at the loss. A few more licks and kisses from Shiro appeased Lance long enough for Keith to hastily throw his clothes who knows where. Then, Keith promptly scooted back towards Lance to finally free him of his clothing. With each reveal of more tantalizing snippets of Lance's smooth, dusky brown skin that was just begging to be marked up, it became increasingly difficult for Keith to stop himself from simply tearing all that annoying clothing away. All the while, Lance did little to help him; in fact, Lance only distracted Keith by peppering him with too many wonderful kisses with aggressively amazing nuzzles in-between. Shiro, too, just smiled at Keith's struggles.

Somehow, Keith managed to take Lance's clothes off without any major mishaps, revealing lean, but toned muscles adorning a heaving chest and the prettiest legs that Keith had ever laid eyes upon. Instantly, Keith returned to the huddled figure of Lance and Shiro wrapped around each other. Keith fit his own chest against Lance's to resume kissing Lance with fervor. Lance happily wrapped those beautiful legs around Keith's hips to draw them closer together, Shiro moving forward with him.

"You're so beautiful," Keith breathed, running his hands up Lance's lean chest, lightly brushing his fingers across the striking muscles that winged across Lance's ribs.

"You sure know how to sweet-talk a guy," Lance responded. He ghosted his fingers through Keith's hair softly, taking a moment to caress down Keith's ears and the tufts of fur at their base. He giggled at the rumble of pleasure that shuddered through Keith's chest.

"Is it really sweet-talking if it's the truth?" Shiro murmured into Lance's neck, licking down to lavish attention onto Lance's deltoid.

Lance scoffed and rolled his eyes with a smile on his face.

Keith rut himself against Lance, rubbing their hard cocks together fiercely. The anatomy of Alteans were essentially the same as humans, but a Galran penis, while ultimately the same, physically, tended to secrete a coating of slick over them and were generally a bit larger and adorned by ribbing that varied with each individual. As a result, some people were nervous towards them and chose to steer away from. Lance, however, seemed to adore it. Within a few thrusts, he was back to throwing his head back against Shiro's shoulder in pleasure as he mewled the whole way through. Shiro leans forward, pushing Lance even closer unto Keith, which was a nice bonus, to give Keith a series of long, languid kisses that lead to Keith thrusting forward even more. As Lance's whines grew even louder, Shiro moved back and tilting Lance's head back farther towards his own to silence him.

Keith could vaguely see Shiro also thrusting his hips from the slight shifting of his shoulders, which Keith was sure meant that Shiro was dipping his cock lovingly between the enticing crack of Lance's ass that Keith only managed to get a small glimpse of when he was undressing him. Knowing how glorious Shiro's dick was, it was no wonder that Lance was already a mess.

As Lance's whimpers grew higher and hotter, Shiro pulled himself away from Lance while signaling for Keith to do the same, much to Lance's extreme displeasure.

"No, don't," Lance whined, grasping at where they previously were in a desperate attempt to bring them back.

Shiro gently hushed Lance, stroking the small of his back soothingly and lavashing Lance's neck with attention as Keith rearranged himself. Keith couldn't decide if he was thankful that Shiro had left Lance's mouth unoccupied because, even though the pretty noises escaping from Lance were simply intoxicating, they also made it hard for Keith to stand being away. Still, Keith managed to sit himself against the headboard, throwing some impressively fluffy pillows behind his back for support because he had a hunch that things were about to get rough.

After Keith finally made himself comfortable, Shiro guided Lance to him like a shivering newborn fawn, all wide-eyed and wondering, sitting him down onto Keith's ready lap. Immediately, Lance melted into Keith, wrapping his arms around Keith's shoulders again before resuming those wondrously wet kisses while sliding his pert ass against Keith's dick. Lance kissed Keith wetly for a few minutes before pulling his head away to look Keith in the eyes while still shimmying himself over Keith's dick. The mini supernovas in Lance's eyes looked as if they were swirling, his expression erotic and endeared, and Keith couldn't look away.

"Do you like his cock?" Shiro asked from his spot behind Lance, voice husky with promise. "You like his Galran cock, all slick and throbbing and ready for you?"

Lance whined without answering until Shiro pulled him off of Keith. Once again, Lance keened unhappily, but he still allowed Shiro to pull him without struggle.

"I asked you a question. I'm going to have to punish you for not answering... if that's ok," Shiro said, running his hand through Lance's hair as he waited for his answer.

"Oh, yes," Lance gusted, pushing his ass back against Shiro's hand where Shiro was reverently running it against Lance's presented backside. "Yes, yes, please."

At Lance's response, Shiro planted a soft kiss against Lance's head before bringing his hand down to strike each of Lance's asscheeks once with a fantastic smack that resounded through the room and had Keith's ears twitching. Lance responded with a guttural moan as his cock twitched at the hit. Keith was tempted to wrap his hand around his dick at the sight, but he was afraid that he would come too soon from how amazing Lance and Shiro were together.

"Will you answer my question now?" Shiro asked, already soothing the faint pink mark he left behind.

"Can you repeat your question?" Lance breathed, grin overwhelmed but still teasing.

Shiro gave him another smack, albeit much lighter this time as he chuckled. "Do you like Keith's cock?"

"Oh, yes," Lance purred, returning his gaze to look at Keith. Those usually aqua eyes full of a fusillade of stars were darker with arousal now, and Lance's heavy attention focused entirely on Keith made him giddy. "It's _amazing_."

"You haven't even had it inside of you, yet. How can you say it's amazing?" Keith quipped.

"I haven't had me inside of it _yet_ ," Lance corrected, blinking his eyes at Keith slowly and seductively. "Besides, do I really need to be fucked by a dick to be able to appreciate it?"

"Speaking of Galran dicks," Shiro announced, "do you have any condoms made for Galran's?"

"Of course," Lance responded, flicking his head up in pride. "I have condoms for everyone. I don't discriminate, especially not against a nice penis."

Keith huffed affectionately. "I'm glad."

Suddenly, Lance gripped Keith and Shiro's dicks, one in each hand, much to their pleasant surprise. The scene looked like a precursor to a cheesy porn shot, but, as one of the participants, it was one of the hottest scenes Keith had ever had the pleasure to witness. However, Lance quickly released them as he hopped off of the bed, much to their displeased confusion.

Lance laughed as he sauntered away, swinging his hips teasingly in their wanting faces. "Just wanted to get a sense of how big you two were before I went and grabbed some condoms," he claimed, winking at them in satisfaction at their forlorn faces.

Still, Keith couldn't complain about the sight of Lance's shimmying backside and mouthwatering cock as he walked away and returned.

After Lance returned to the bed, Shiro lead him back to Keith's woefully empty lap. However, this time, Shiro positioned Lance so he was facing away from Keith. Lance easily went along with Shiro's ministrations with an abundance of willingness laced with trust and desire that had Keith wondering how far Lance would allow them to push him, given enough time.

Tonight, though, they didn't have much time, so, when Lance's tight little ass, that looked unbelievably enticing from behind as they rested on Keith's hips, Lance eagerly began kissing Shiro while going back to gliding his ass over Keith's cock. With Shiro and Lance's mouths busy, the wet sound of Keith's slick dick rubbing against Lance's hole mercilessly overpowered their heady breaths.

After a few more minutes, Keith couldn't take it anymore and gently pushed Lance off of him so he could gain access to his hole that had been teasing his dick with excruciating persistence for far too long. "Is this ok?" he asked.

"Fuck, yes," Lance breathed, lifting himself up by his knees to give Keith and Shiro access to his entrance. With a satisfied hum, Shiro popped open the cap of the lube that Lance had dumped onto the bed before squirting a generous amount over his own human hand and onto Keith's outstretched palm. They both rubbed it into their own hands to warm it up, intent on making the process as easy for Lance as possible.

Impatiently, Lance began whining again at the wait. In response, Shiro gave him another harsh slap on the ass. "Settle, Lance. You have to be patient. Good boys are always patient, and good boys get nice rewards."

Judging by Lance's contended sigh and the bead of pre-cum that dribbled out of his cock, a pretty, ruddy thing that Keith hoped to get in his mouth one day, the act wasn't actually much of a punishment, but none of them were particularly displeased at the fact.

"You do want to be a good boy, don't you?" Shiro continued.

"Yes, yes, I'll be good, so good," Lance muttered incoherently.

Finally, Keith slowly pushed his finger into Lance, trusting Shiro to let Keith know if there were any signs of discomfort on Lance's face, considering Keith couldn't see it for himself. Still, with the thrilled mewls and moans that fell out of Lance, combined with the way that the muscles across Lance's shoulders and down his back flexed with pleasure, Keith figured that Lance was probably enjoying it.

"Oh my god," Lance hummed, body tense with pleasure, " _yes_."

"God?" Keith inquired. "They don't have the concept of God on Altea, do they?"

"Nah," Lance said airily, "I got the phrase from my time on Earth, and it rolls off the tongue nicely, so I kept it."

"Well, Earth got 'quiznak' from Altea," Shiro supplemented, "so it's not that strange."

At the end of their discussion, Keith carefully added another finger that left Lance moaning and shuddering, which transformed into breathless whines of bliss after Shiro added in a finger of his own. The two of them scissored Lance opened smoothly, driven by the increasing breathlessness behind Lance's moans.

Eventually, once Lance's whines took a turn towards frenzied urgency, Keith removed his fingers, with two of Shiro's replacing the two Keith had taken away, in order to grab one of the many condoms that Lance had piled onto the bed.

He tried not to get too excited at the fact that Lance had gotten so many condoms ready for them.

With more fumbling than Keith would like to admit, he managed to wrestle the condom package open before hastily sliding it over his throbbing cock, desperate to finally get inside of the illustrious prince that had so thoroughly captured Keith's attention at first sight.

Afterwards, Keith turned his attention back to Lance, causing Shiro to pull his fingers out from Lance's entrance, which twitched prettily at the loss. Eagerly, Lance lifted himself off from his knees to sit back against Keith. Shakily, Keith guided Lance down onto his cock, holding him still so that he didn't simply slam himself down on Keith's cock because, as fantastic as it would undoubtedly feel, Keith wanted to make sure that Lance didn't hurt himself.

"Keith," Lance whined as Keith held him steady, "let me do it."

"You're going to hurt yourself," Keith argued. "You have to take it slowly."

Lance simply whimpered louder as he endeavored to push himself down against Keith's efforts. Growling, Shiro grabbed Lance's hair. "What did I say about being patient?"

Lance's ass tightened around Keith's cock, which was steadily pushing in deeper, and Keith groaned at the sensation.

"Answer me, Lance," Shiro demanded.

"You said that good boys were patient," Lance gusted, words interrupted by a throaty moan after he slid down further on Keith's cock, "and that rewards come to good boys."

Shiro smiled. "That's right. So, be a good boy and Keith will give you a good fucking."

Shiro's words were followed by another loud moan as Lance finally settled onto Keith's lap with Keith's dick _finally_  fully sheathed inside of him. It was hot, heavy, and hectic, and Keith heaved as the sensation grew. It was perfect. Still, Keith held himself back to give Lance some time to adjust, as difficult as doing so was. Meanwhile, Shiro wrapped his hand around Lance's cock and began jerking him off in order to placate him during the wait. Unfortunately, that only served to torture Keith further as Lance tightened around Keith even more.

Once he figured that enough time had passed, Keith began thrusting upwards shallowly. Immediately, Lance was back to mewling a litany of incomprehensible words in delight as he threw his head back. With his grip still around Lance's dick, Shiro shimmied his way across the bed so that he could lean down and lazily kiss Keith while keeping in contact with Lance as his metal hand worked at his own leaking cock.

Keith adored how Shiro kissed, deep and attentive, punctuated by gentle familiarity, but he already missed the feeling of Lance's lips on his.

Still, being inside of Lance wasn't bad, either.

Lance's moans grew increasingly breathless and needy as Keith's thrusts grew in speed and intensity, and Keith wanted to record the sounds and keep them locked in his ear forever.

Suddenly, Shiro released his grip, causing Lance to whimper from the loss. "Lance, do you want to be a good boy and suck my dick?"

In response, Lance keened. "Yes, yes, I want your dick in your mouth. I'll be good, so good," he begged, turning his head to look at Shiro pleadingly.

A fierce shudder rippled through Shiro's body as a low growl escaped from his mouth.

Without warning, Shiro began lifting Lance off of Keith's cock, much to both of their immense disappointment.

"Why?" Lance griped sadly. A unhappy groan also fell from Keith's mouth as the warm, wet, and gripping heat of Lance's beautiful body broke away from him. Still silent, Shiro manhandled Lance, so pliant and willing, despite his confused whimpers. Gently, Shiro turned Lance around so that those addictive blue galaxies were back at staring at Keith with pure need. Once released, Lance easily falls back around Keith, and Keith couldn't stop the loud, almost pained moan that erupted out of him when he finally felt Lance's heat all over him again.

"Keith, hold Lance still." Like a lion prowling upon his prey, Shiro slowly turned towards Lance, muscles tense and primed to pounce.

As dictated, Keith gripped Lance's hips tightly, holding him up lightly to prevent him from bouncing while making sure to mind his claws; he would never be able to forgive himself if he accidentally maimed Lance because he couldn't control himself in the midst of an orgasm.

At Keith's side, Shiro stood up with one hand braced against the headboard for support, Shiro positioned his cock which stood up proudly with a slight curve upwards that Keith personally adored in front of Lance's head, turned to the side for Keith to watch. Lance gladly opened his mouth wide, tongue out and ready, and those pretty eyes of his glossed over with a desperate desire to please that went straight to Keith's dick.

Shiro grabbed Lance firmly by the back of his neck, taking a moment to caress the bottom fringes of his hair, before slowly pushing Lance towards his waiting cock. Lance went along with it without struggle, readily adjusting his mouth around Shiro's sizable cock, movement coupled with a muffled moan after he closed his lips around the head.

Shiro was beautiful. Lance was beautiful. Together, they were unbelievably breathtaking. Keith wished he could record this moment and keep it forever because he doubted he would ever see a more enticing scene. Nonetheless, he drank in the moment as best as he could, thrusts becoming increasingly frantic as he watched Lance bob his head with abandon.

Suddenly, Lance ripped his head away from Shiro's cock.

"Are you ok?" Shiro asked worriedly, moving his hand to stroke through Lance's hear.

Lance nodded. "I'm _wonderful_. I just... want you to fuck my mouth. If you want?" Lance asked, cocking his head to the side, though, from the look in his eyes, Keith could tell that Lance knew how badly Shiro wanted it.

With a growl, Shiro pulled Lance back against him by his hair. "Make a scratch down my thigh if you want me to stop." Shiro waited just long enough for Lance to nod before dragging Lance's waiting mouth back around his cock to thrust into it. It was fiery and fierce, Lance's eyes bright and brimming with tears as he stretched his gape to take in Shiro. His head moved in time with Shiro's trusts, and Keith groaned again at the sight of Lance taking Shiro in all the way to the hilt, sharp nose pressed tight against the tuft of hair at the base of Shiro's dick.

The whole time, Lance kept his eyes locked tightly on Shiro's, so wondrously coated by needy adoration that Keith was taken by it even as a spectator.

"Fuck, you're amazing," Keith marveled, leaning forward to smooth his hand through Lance's hair beside Shiro. Lance hummed around Shiro happily at the attention as he clenched one of his hands on Keith's thigh, silently imploring him for more.

Lance's warm honey-sweet scent and Shiro's heavier musk were already thick in the air, swirling around Keith's head, but now, as the two of them, and Keith, too, started to lose themselves, their combined scents grew so dense that it dominated Keith's senses so much that he thought he could almost see them. It was a strange combination, but enticing, and Keith thought he might just go mad if it get growing.

Thankfully, or maybe unfortunately, Lance soon came, body shaking and twitching around Keith as he spilled across his chest with a muffled groan. Afterwards, Lance demanded that Shiro release him with a quick scratch.

"Come on, come on," Lance breathed frantically, replacing his mouth with jerky hand movements, "come on my face, Shiro."

"Whatever you want," Shiro moaned. "I'll give it all to you."

The sight of Shiro preparing to come all over Lance's face, so open and begging for it, had Keith thrusting up frantically until he finally came, gripping onto Lance's shoulder to keep himself grounded.

Moments later, Shiro followed. Streaks of white splattered across Lance's face, contrasting magnificently his flushed dark skin, and Keith wished for nothing more than some way to immortalize the sight forever.

However, Lance promptly dragged a glob into his mouth seductively with his thumb so he could lap it up with his pretty tongue, taking turns to lock heavy-lidded eyes with both Shiro and Keith.

"You're going to be the fucking death of us," Keith sighed, running his hand across Lance's heaving chest.

"I wouldn't _dare_ ," Lance whispered, crawling off Keith's lap to kiss him, "because then we wouldn't be able to do this again."

Shiro chuckled tiredly as he stepped off the bed. "That would be a tragedy, wouldn't it?"

Shiro padded towards the bathroom attached to Lance's room as Lance returned to lazily making out with Keith. Contented hums rumbled through Lance into Keith, and Keith reveled in it, licking away some of the streaks of Shiro's come that were closest to Lance's mouth.

When Shiro returned, damp towel in hand, he gently coaxed Lance and Keith apart so he could wipe down Lance's chest while Keith finally got rid of the condom that was already starting to slip off of his softening cock.

A few more kisses later, some of which involved all three of them at the same time, Lance pushed Keith over to the side so he could flop down between Keith and Shiro with a happy sigh.

"Why do you get to be in the middle?" Keith asked.

"Because I'm the prince and I'm cute," Lance answered with a cocky grin.

"Oh, God, don't remind me," Keith said, pushing his palms down into his eyes. "I can't believe that I just fucked the Prince of Altea in a raunchy threesome."

" _Raunchy_?" Lance asked, incredulous. "I hardly consider what just happened _raunchy,_ even if it was super hot."

"I guess we're just going to have to step up our game next time," Shiro said, voice dark with a promise that none of them were entirely sure they'd be able to fulfill, but they still hoped they would.

"I'll be waiting," Lance purred.

"But it was nice, right?" Keith asked, running his thumb over Lance's hipbone. "Your first threesome?"

"It was amazing," Lance breathed. "I can't remember a time I ever felt this satisfied."

Keith tried not to preen too hard. Still, he didn't doubt that he looked somewhat haughty if even Shiro couldn't hide the smug smile encroaching across his face.

The three of them tiredly kissed and caressed each other for a few more minutes, Lance's eyes now fixed on Keith. Before long, though, they drifted off to slip, Shiro spooning Lance while Lance's soft breath ghosted soothingly over Keith's ears.

 

* * *

 

 

Unfortunately, with the flurry of responsibilities that Lance had to deal with as the Prince of Altea, the three of them only get one more rushed moment together before the week was over. Lance was working to fully understand and possibly devise a plan of action after the Galran rebel attack on the Altean Royal Castle, and several Alliance Council members had numerous questions for Shiro, Keith, and Pidge.

And, by _rushed_ , that meant frantic fucking in the middle of a corridor that, while not exactly high-traffic, wasn't exactly private, either.

"Come on," Lance keened desperately, and, God, the other guys weren't wrong when they told Shiro that Lance was a lovely little whiner, "give it to me, fuck me harder, Shiro."

In any other situation, Shiro would have reveled in the pretty noises Lance was making, but, at the moment, butt naked and balls deep inside of the prince of the castle while he was bent over at the waist, hands flush against the wall with a Galran kneeling on the floor in front of him, deep-throating the aforementioned prince, he didn't have the luxury of appreciating them.

"Lance," Shiro hissed in warning, "you have to be quiet."

Lance simply whined higher and louder. In response, Shiro thrust three of his metal fingers into Lance's mouth to keep it occupied, deciding to use his human hand to help support Lance in case he accidentally gripped a bit too tight in the heat of the moment; with his human hand, there was less of a risk that he might accidentally grasp down too hard.

Fortunately, Lance seemed pleased to turn his focus to tonguing Shiro's fingers without abandon, letting only a few muffed, breathless moans escape. Keith, too, with his mouth so occupied, was no more than faint groans. That just left Shiro, who, as his thrusts grew more frenzied in time with his mounting pleasure, had a harder time controlling his own voice.

As a result, he sunk his teeth into Lance's shoulder, down far enough that any mark left behind should be hidden if Lance wore anything with sleeves, to muffle his increasingly loud groans. Lance whimpered at the sensation, but his mouth was still full enough of Shiro's fingers that it didn't reach concerning levels.

Quickly afterwards, Shiro could feel Lance shudder and tense around him, and he could vaguely spot Keith helping to coax Lance and himself to completion until the were both coming. A few more thrusts later, Shiro came, biting down harder to quiet his moan, tasting blood. Lance collapsed underneath him once Shiro pulled out to dispose of the spent condom as Keith caught and steadied him.

"Sorry about that," Shiro gusted as he ran his fingers across the bite mark he had left behind, swiping a few slow growing beads of blood over Lance's shoulder. Shiro didn't want to like the sight as much as he did, but he really fucking loved it.

"It's fine," Lance responded, taking his pants from Keith's outstretched hand, "I like it. It'll be a nice reminder."

A reminder because they were going to be leaving soon.

Shiro didn't want to think about it, but it was approaching way too fast.

Keith, too, seemed to realize the implications because he dressed himself silently before placing a series of desperate kisses all over Lance's mouth and still naked chest.

After that, Shiro and Keith hardly got any chance to see Lance as they prepared for the next diplomatic trip before the fateful fay arrived.

"Are you two ok?" Pidge asked worriedly as they made their way to the hangar where there ship had been quietly waiting for their next adventure. "I've never seen you two this upset about leaving a planet before. Is it because of Prince Lance?"

"Yeah," Keith responded because there was no point in trying to hide anything from her, "we're going to miss him."

"At least you have some nice memories, right? After all of those heart eyes you were staring at him with, you finally got some action."

"Pidge!" Shiro exclaimed, face warm and flushed.

"Oh come on, I'm _sixteen_. I know about _the sex_. Besides, don't think I didn't notice you two not returning to your quarters a few nights ago; I went to discuss some Arusian customs with you in preparation for our next excursion, but, lo and behold, you two were nowhere to be found. Well, I guess if I had gone down to Prince Lance's room, I would have found you easily enough," Pidge argued.

"The memories don't feel like nearly enough," Keith sighed sadly. Usually, Keith loved to fly and was generally glad to return to _The Redeemer_ , even if he enjoyed the planet they were visiting. However, this time he was decidedly and overwhelmingly forlorn at the thought.

Shiro, too, despite his joy for exploration, couldn't help but be upset.

"Oh," Pidge said, "you two really go it bad, huh? Prince Lance caught you two hook, line, and sinker with just a glance, I bet."

"Don't rub it in," Keith griped. "We know we're weak."

As they reached the hangar, they ran into the Altean Royal Family waiting to send them off with happy smiles and waves goodbye, alongside Hunk. Even Lord Zarkon as his closest attendant, Commander Prorok, were there, as a show of peace or solidarity, Shiro supposed.

"Hey!" Lance exclaimed, striding towards them. "It's finally time to say goodybe, huh?" Despite his cheerful tone, Shiro could see the sadness that also colored his normally bright and shining eyes.

"Yeah," Shiro whispered.

"Well, you guys are never more than a call away, you know," Lance said. "Besides, everyone wishes you could stay even just a little longer so we could give you a proper 'thank you' for all you did. If there wasn't so much going on, there definitely would've been a celebration."

"Maybe next time."

Shiro wished he could run his fingers through Lance's hair one more time, but, with all those people around them, he settled with resting a heavy hand on Lance's shoulder.

He wondered if that bite mark he left behind was still there.

Pidge and Keith also said their goodbyes before Lance sent them all away with a bright smile.

Silently, Keith and Pidge followed Shiro into the ship. The _Reedemer_ was a relatively small vessel. It wasn't exactly a large-scale exploration ship, which meant that they didn't need many people to man it, and they were only meant to visit other Alliance planets. Thus, considering the fact they were only meant to stay within Alliance space, they didn't need to be extremely well-stocked; thankfully, if any major damage or problems arose, then another Alliance ship would probably be no more than hours away to aid them or deliver them to the nearest Alliance planet.

Still, Shiro enjoyed the diplomatic excursions well enough, especially if it let him meet long-lost crushes like Lance again, and this kind of local work was to be expected for a newly-minted Captain.

In the few months that they had been traveling, they had only experienced a few technical difficulties, most of which were easily dealt with by Pidge and occasionally another helping hand from another technologically-minded Alliance person from an Alliance planet. As a domestic exploration vessel, as opposed to a battle or border patrol ship, the only extensive damage they had ever had to mend was an accidental phaser shot from another Alliance ship that had mistaken them as an enemy vessel. Beyond that, Pidge had only reported minor and easily reparable maintenance problems.

As a result, when the ship began stuttering ominously almost immediately after starting, punctuated by a large explosion that rocked the entire vessel, Shiro wasn't sure how Pidge would be able to deal with it, considering the fact that he had never felt something like that before.

His concerns were compounded even more when Pidge returned from her brief visit to the engine room, sprinting away from the smoke following her.

"We have to get out _now_ ," she stressed, already heading for the exit.

Shiro and Keith didn't need to be told twice.

Shiro promptly re-opened the hatch before they ran after Pidge. When they exited, water was raining down on them from the hangar's sprinkler system, and the small gaggle of people that had gathered to watch their departure were staring at the burning _Redeemer_ with shock and concern. Even Lord Zarkon looked mildly taken aback.

"Pidge, what happened with the engine?" Keith asked.

"The adamantine core has been replaced by something that physically looks similar, but is definitely not molecularly similar," Pidge explained breathlessly. "So the ship was understandably not pleased with us trying to start her with some cheap imitation. Honestly, this might be the end of _The Redeemer_."

Behind them, the ship burst apart even more. Keith gaped. From the corner of Shiro's eye, Coran gasped.

"Well," Shiro said, "that certainly is a problem."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why was the sex scene so long omg
> 
> but it's their first time! so of course it's long, i poorly rationalize lol
> 
> please let me know what you think :)


	5. Chapter 5

"Something probably happened during the Galra rebel invasion," Shiro mused, inspecting the fake crystalline core they had pried out of the ship's now busted engine. Only a bit of it remained, but it was just enough to find that their adamantine core had been replaced with larena ore; a common crystal that could probably power a stove well enough, but certainly not suited for sustaining a ship, even one as small as theirs. "I just wonder exactly what. Or, I guess we know what happened. I wonder why, though."

"I still can't believe that they managed to sneak away a whole adamantine core without being seen," Lance said, arms crossed over his chest as he looked over Shiro's shoulder. "You'd think that the castle security would be better than that. On behalf of the royal family of Altea and all of the castle residents, I am _so_ sorry about this. Please forgive us for our negligence."

Shiro saw Keith's ears perk downward in response. He was probably distraught about the whole thing, including how guilty Lance seemed about their ship, even if he had nothing to do with it. Shiro, despite the unfortunate situation surrounding them, had to work hard to suppress a grin at Keith's reaction. It was quite endearing, after all.

"No, please don't feel bad about it. After all that happened, there's no need for you to be guilty for something that was out of your control," Keith said adamantly.

Lance flashed Keith a small, but grateful, smile Keith's way, and Shiro had to cough away a chuckle at the way Keith's ears shot back up with satisfaction. Not like he could blame him.

"It is pretty weird, though," Hunk said. "We have plenty of security measures all around the castle, including a lot of surveillance oculenses. Any suspicious activity should've been picked up and noted."

"Oculenses?" Keith wondered.

"It's basically a camera," Pidge responded quickly, eyes twinkling, "but with amazingly crisp quality and..."

"You can tell us all about it later, Pidge," Shiro interrupted as Pidge wrinkled her nose at him. "Right now, our first priority is to figure out what we're going to do about our ship."

"Oh, don't worry about that. We should be able to fix your ship in a couple of days," Hunk announced, furrowed brows replaced with an easy grin. "The craftsmanship was pretty basic, so it'll be no problem to patch it all up. The only problem is that adamantite isn't found naturally on Altea, and we've moved on to using orichalcum for most of our larger-scale tech, so we don't really have many just laying around we can give you to actually power your ship." Hunk paused before continuing. "Plenty of nearby planets that we're friendly with have some, though."

"Which I can help you get!" Lance exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he leaned in towards Shiro. His smile was bright and eyes fluttering with anticipation. "Like I mentioned before, I'm one of the best pilots on Altea. With me in charge, the trip will be as smooth and easy as melting chocolate in your handy Earth microwaves." Lance winked and Shiro's heart skipped a beat in time with it.

Hunk, on the other hand, didn't seem as excited about the idea. "Do you really think King Alfor would let you travel off of Altea after what just happened? I'm surprised he doesn't have you and Allura and house arrest right now, honestly."

With a huff, Lance turned to face Hunk, arms crossed again. "Can you maybe not be the voice of reason for once?"

Hunk just rolled his eyes. "Someone around here has to be."

"I have to say, I agree with Hunk," Shiro said. "It's way too dangerous for you to be leaving the castle, much less leaving Altea entirely."

"But none of our scouting ships have seen a hint of any Galran rebels within a light year from here," Lance argued. "Not even the Galra ones, and those guys are super thorough with these kinds of things. They can't really afford not to be, with the way their military is set up."

"But the rebels were able to invade the castle despite all the scouting ships and guards placed all over the planet," Keith cut in. "So, I don't know how trustworthy any of that is, quite frankly."

Lance wrinkled his nose angrily before responding. "And, if they were able to storm the whole damn castle all the scouting ships and guards placed all over the planet, then I'm not even necessarily safe sitting here, twiddling my thumbs, am I?"

"Lance," Hunk whispered, stepping close with hands raised to try to appease Lance. "They're just trying to keep you safe."

"So is everyone else," Lance said softly, deflating sadly. "I guess it's back to being holed up in the castle again, then."

This time, it was Shiro's turn to try to appease Lance. "Lance, it's not that we don't want you to take us there. It's just too risky, and you're too important to be sent off for something as small as thing."

"I know!" Lance exclaimed, voice harsh and throaty before softening his tone. "I know. I'm supposed to sit around and be the prince all while hoping that my father and Allura can do the real royal heavy lifting."

"That's not what we're trying to say," Keith said. He took a step forward, raised his hand just a bit, as if to stroke Lance's face, before setting it back down and moving back to his original spot. Shiro knew all of this because he remembered Keith trying to do the same when he had found Shiro, bruised and confused, after his time at the Galra prison.

In the end, Keith was awkward, but sweet.

Lance apparently could sense as much, too, based on the tired smile he gave Keith. "I know," Lance said once more.

Soon after that, Lance had been ushered away by Coran whose hushed whispers included words along with lines of 'appointment with the physician'. At least, that's what Keith told Shiro he had heard after eavesdropping on them.

"Keith," Shiro admonished. "What have I told you about using your Galra senses to go around listening in on other people's conversations like that?"

Keith shrugged, and one of his ears twitched. "Well, if he really didn't want me to hear it, he should've spoken more quietly. I would think he would know about a Galra's enhanced hearing, considering how much Altea's been trying to cozy up to them recently. Besides, I think me listening in on people has helped us more than enough, at the end of the day."

"Still, that's not very polite of you," Shiro said lamely.

Keith didn't look at all impressed with his response, and neither did Pidge.

"Anyway," Shiro announced, "we still have to figure out how to get our ship back up and running." He turned to Hunk. "Are you sure there aren't any adamantite crystals we can use here on Altea?"

Hunk shook his head with a frown. "I doubt it. We started phasing out adamantite almost a century ago, and, with that, we started giving the crystals away to nearby planets as a show of peace. There might be a few old things laying around here and there, but I doubt they'd still have enough good adamantite to fuel your ship."

"And orichalcum is definitely not compatible with _The Redeemer_ ," Pidge added. "It'd tear our ship apart as soon as he turned on the engine. Though, I would _love_ to see how an orichalum fueled ship operates."

"You could always take one of our ships. I doubt anyone would really be opposed, especially after you helped save Princess Allura and Lance," Hunk said.

"It'd take too long for the three of us to learn how to properly pilot and operate one of your ships," Keith said. "Even for our superstar captain over here."

"So it really does look like our best option is to get some adamntite crystal from a neighboring planet as quickly as possible." Shiro sighed. He could already feel the headache he would undoubtedly have after filling Iverson in on exactly what had happened over the past several days, and then what was about to happen in an attempt to get more adamantite. "Do you have any suggestions for which planet we should try?"

"I'd say Arus," Hunk replied after a few moments of deliberation. "Our relations with them are great, and they're one of the closest planets around that also have really impressive adamantite mines. If you bring an Altean with you - any Altean, really - it should be easy enough to get a chunk big enough to run your ship."

"Then I guess that's where we're heading," Shiro said.

"What are the people of Arus like?" Pdige asked excitedly. "Are they as technologically-advanced as Alteans?"

"The Arusians are very nice," Hunk responded. "Very cute, too. Not especially advanced technologically, though. They're also a bit wary of strangers, but, like I said, if you have an Altean there with you, they'll probably be more than happy to help you out."

"I guess we should start getting read for the trip, then," Shiro said. "And we should figure out which Altean pilot we can take with us, too."

"I want to speak with Lance before we go," Keith cut in. "He seemed pretty upset, earlier."

"Keith," Shiro began before being interrupted by Pidge.

"God, I didn't know that watching you two flounder about with your super embarrassing crush could be this entertaining," she snickered, a smirk briefly laid across her face before she continued, more serious this time. "But, you know, we still have things we need to do that don't involve pining over an alien prince."

"I know!" Keith exclaimed, ears perked up suspiciously stiff. "I just think that it's a good idea to make sure that we didn't accidentally offend said prince."

"Whatever you say."

"That's enough, you two," Shiro sighed. Hunk clearly found their antics amusing, and Shiro couldn't blame him, even if it felt more like mortifying to Shiro. "Keith, we'll see if we can speak to Lance as we ask about which Altean pilot they want to have escort us to Arus. If we can't find a chance to talk to him before we leave, though, that's that."

It wasn't as though Shiro didn't want to also speak to Lance, for several reasons. Still, their time on Altea was coming to a close, and Lance surely had a multitude of other, more important matters that needed his attention.

Things weren't always meant to go the way they wanted, at the end of the day.

"Fine," Keith huffed and, for now, that was that.

"You two are ridiculous," Pidge added.

Shiro sighed again. She wasn't wrong.

Hunk, at least, was nice about it all. "Why don't you guys rest for awhile? I don't think you'll be assigned your Altean escort today. I can make you some nice food and maybe show you around the place, introduce you to some Altean vessels in the meantime."

Predictably, Pidge perked up with blatant interest at the suggestion. Keith and Shiro had no choice but to go along with it, in the face of Pidge's pleading looks.

"It'll be fine," Shiro whispered to Keith with a smile. "There are always interstellar comms, you know."

"Yeah, but it won't be the same," Keith mumbled back, eyes downcast.

Oh, Keith _really_ had it bad. Except, it would be a lie to say that Shiro didn't feel the same, especially after seeing how Lance had grown even prettier since leaving the Earth Garrison.

Shiro stifled another sigh as he looked away from Keith to nod at Hunk encouragingly. At least there were always interstellar comms.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance winced as he was pricked once more as the royal physician buried the needle under Lance's skin. The physician stilled, looked at it, and pushed it in just a bit deeper. The feeling of the needle moving in his arm made Lance cringe. Thankfully, his blood was draining faster now, meaning that this whole thing would be done with sooner. Lance had never considered himself especially turned off by blood or needles, but that didn't mean that he particularly enjoyed them, either.

"Come on, Coran," Lance whined as the physician changed collection tubes. "It's been over a week since the Galra rebel attack, and we haven't found anything wrong with me yet. Do we have to keep doing this?"

"Better to be safe than sorry," Coran said with distinctly annoying finality. "You never know what might've happened, and, if anything did happen, it's possible that it'll take some time to manifest."

"I don't know what you think might've happened," Lance huffed. One more tube, Lance faintly heard the physician say. "I was with Keith and Shiro pretty much the whole time."

"Better to be safe than sorry," Coran simply repeated. "Something might've happened during the banquet itself, you know."

Lance was sure that no one there actually believed anything had happened that they weren't already aware of. The whole thing, getting his blood drawn and tested every day since that attack, was just royal family procedure, like most things in Lance's life.

Attend these meetings, these classes, talk to these people, and don't talk to those. Don't stray too far, but make sure that you know all about these other alien species, just in case you somehow manage to get off of Altea long enough to actually interact with them. Even as the royal child not being groomed for the throne, there was a lot expected of Lance.

There was also a lot not expected of Lance.

The only non-procedural thing Lance had managed to snag for himself was his trip to the Earth Galaxy Garrison. He had begged and pleaded with his father for /months/ before he had finally given in with an almost exhausting amount of trepidation.

But, things had turned out fine, then, and it wasn't as though the Galra rebel threat was much more subdued back then compared to now.

Except, Lance's father was wearied, Lord Zarkon apparently even more so, and Allura was all but tearing her hair out as a result. Even she wasn't ready to take over the throne, not yet. So, this really wasn't the time for Lance to, as Hunk put it, 'go galavanting across the universe'.

Nonetheless, Lance was restless.

"Coran," Lance said after his tests had come back as completely normal, as they had all expected. "Do you know who's going to be the Altean escort? For our Earth guests, that is."

"I'm not sure," Coran replied. "Probably one of the younger pilots. Our more senior pilots are being stationed all around the perimeter of Altea and some of our close allies, at the moment."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Lance asked. "I think we should give them someone more experienced, just in case. They are our guests, after all. We're supposed to take make sure nothing happens to them, as long as they're here."

"I agree with you in theory, Lance, but you have to understand our position. We can't afford to send one of our best away just to help take some visitors to Arus."

"Even if that means going against our alliance agreement?"

Coran sighed. "Lance, please. Don't think that I don't understand what you're saying, and please definitely to do not think that the other royal advisors and your father do not feel the same way. But you must understand what we are saying, too."

Lance licked his lips restlessly before responding. "I do understand. I get it because it's always been like this. Even though we always like to go around talking about how much we want to help others in the universe, it's always been us. Me, Allura, my father. I can go. I've been to Arus numerous times. I'd keep them and myself safe, easy. You _know_ that I can."

"Lance, that is enough!" Coran exclaimed. For the first time in some time, he looked genuinely upset with Lance. Lance was never good with having people be upset with him, especially people he cared about like Coran, so the sight stung. "We are not about to send you off right now when it's highly possible that there are hoards of Galra rebels nearby for the sake of some human adventurers!"

Lance stopped to breathe in sharply before continuing. "My mother didn't stand for any of this, you know. She wouldn't now, either, if she were still here."

Lance almost felt guilty about bringing up his mother because Coran, for a second, looked at Lance as if he had physically struck him. The only time Lance ever had hit Coran was when he had been younger, throwing a tantrum about his mother's burial. It had been an accident, but Lance had never completely stopped feeling guilty about it.

His mother's favorite color had been blue, just like Lance's. So, he didn't understand why they had to swath the ceremony with the color red, just to commemorate King Alfor's station as the Red Lion. She had been more than just Alfor's wife, after all.

She had been Lance's mother, too.

So, Lance knew why Coran was looking at him with narrowed, hurt eyes now. It didn't make Lance feel particularly satisfied, but it was his intention.

Lance wasn't that bad at playing the game, in the end.

Coran sighed again, but this time it was sadder and heavier. "Lance, I am sorry. Even if I wanted to help you, it's not as though only my word alongside yours will truly be able to do much."

"I know," Lance said. "But my father's word holds weight."

"Do you really think your father would agree to let you go with them?" Coran asked. He sounded tired, but that also meant that he was maybe halfway open to Lance's suggestion. "He adores you, as he should. As we all do. We would never want to put you in harm's way if we didn't need to."

"But we should!" Lance exclaimed. "We can't just stay like this, sitting back on our hands and hoping that thing around us just get better for us. Look, let's go talk to my father right now."

"Lance, you don't know whether or not he's free to talk!"

"All the better to convince him, then, if he doesn't have time to think up those annoyingly logical rebuttals."

Lance stalked over to his father's quarters with long, steady steps, eyes fixed forward because he didn't want to see Coran's pleading eyes, or the curious gazes of the others around him. He knew that the vast majority of the Altean people loved him, loved the entire royal family. For that, Lance would always be grateful.

But he needed to feel like he actually deserved their love.

So, he burst into his father's quarters with his head held as high as he could manage despite his increasingly unsteady nerves. Inside, there was Lord Zarkon and Commander Prorok on one side and Allura for on the other.

For a brief moment, Lance felt slighted; why did it feel like everyone else important and royal was there besides him? He quickly shook that thought off, though, as everyone's eyes flew to look at him. Lance had chosen against being as deeply-ingrained in politics as his father and sister, so it didn't make sense to be complaining about it now.

"Lance," his father said. Even weakened as he was, his voice was firm and never failed to make Lance feel like a young child. "Is something wrong? Did the physician find something?" he asked with furrowed brows.

"No," Lance replied. He made sure to bow slightly, seeing as Lord Zarkon and Commander Prorok were there, too. From the corner of his eye, Lance could see them regarding him with faint interest. "No, I am well. I've come with other concerns."

"And what are those?" his father asked.

Lance took in a deep breath before he began. He didn't want to start stuttering halfway through with so many important people there to watch him. As if sensing Lance's dilemma, Allura glanced at him and nodded. Just once, but it was more than enough.

"I wanted to know who you and the council members were planning on sending to help the Earth envoys travel to Arus," Lance said.

"We are currently deciding between Narok and Kite," Lance's father replied. "I am personally leaning towards Kite."

"Kite is young," Lance argued, "and he doesn't have much experience with interplanetary travel, even less so with being the sole pilot of a ship."

"He passed his final piloting examinations more than well enough, and his temperament is milder than Narok's. I believe that'll help make his travels with foreigners more enjoyable for them all."

"I think that's an irresponsible decision. As their hosts, we're sworn to protect them to the best of our ability according to our alliance, I believe their escort should be someone more experienced." Lance's voice hardly even shook as he spoke, and he let himself take pride in that.

"In our present circumstances, you do not think that sending Kite or Narok is 'the best of our ability?'"

Lance shook his head. By doing so, he briefly caught Lord Zarkon's eye. Curiously enough, he looked almost impressed. "Father, I think that sending me along with them would truly represent the best of our ability."

"Absolutely not," his father announced. "I refuse to send you off in the middle of potential danger for something as trivial as this."

"And why not?"

"Because you are the Prince of Altea," his father said, as if it were really that simple. "You are far more important than this."

"But, Father," Lance whispered, and he couldn't help himself from letting his weak child self creep out a little bit, even if it was in front of Lord Zarkon and Commander Prorok, because he knew that it would soften his father up.

And soften did it, though Lance wasn't sure if it was enough.

Regardless, he soldiered on. "What have I ever truly done? For the sake of Altea, as the _Prince_ of Altea? I know I'm not like you or Allura, and I won't pretend to be, but there must be something else I cannot do in its place. If I can't be someone able to uphold our alliance terms, then what am I really good for, as the Prince? What am I really here for? Just to be locked away for some hidden future?"

His father looked at him for some time, eyes considering and lips thin. Allura was glancing at Lance again with encouraging eyes, and Lance could feel Coran fidgeting restlessly behind him.

In the end, it was Lord Zarkon who broke the silence.

"Well, well, Alfor!" His deep voice was more than loud amidst the quiet of the room. "While your daughter greatly resembles Melenor physically, it seems as though perhaps your son here actually inherited most of her spirit." He glanced at Allura. "Of course, these words are not meant to insult you at all, Princess."

"Of course not, Lord Zarkon," Allura said calmly. "I agree with you, in fact."

Suddenly, Lord Zarkon rose. Commander Prorok rose with him, hastily. "Alfor, let us speak more later. For now, I think it only fair for your Prince to have your full attention."

He swept past Lance in a flurry of black robes, far larger than Lance and even more imposing. At the same time, the air around him was strangely reassuring. Lance let himself bask in itself for as long as possible before he was left to face his father with no buffer between them left.

"Lance," his father sighed as soon as the door closed behind Lord Zarkon. "Why do you insist on going along with them? Just so you can go on some adventure? I know you want to go and travel, but now is just not the time to be thinking about such fanciful things."

"I won't lie. I can't, not to you," Lance whispered, stepping towards his father carefully. "So I won't say that you're wrong, but that's not why I want to do this, Father. I really do think that I need to do more for Altea, in any way I can. I can't be the bright and bold diplomat like you are, or like Allura is learning to be, but I think - I think maybe I can be like mother."

Lance's father flinched almost imperceptibly at the mention of Lance's mother, and Lance used that moment to forge on at full-force.

"I've never forgotten about the little things she did for others, even if some others have started to. But that's fine with me. I don't need people to remember me and my feats throughout the ages. I just need to know that I made a difference."

His father's eyes were wistful and wishful for days gone past. Lance suspected that his were the same.

"Do you really believe that this will make a difference?" his father murmured. "Escorting some Earthians to Arus to obtain some adamantite?"

"I don't know," Lance confessed. "But I think it could, and I just wouldn't feel right if we just let them go with someone so inexperienced. It may not have been any particularly large ones, but I have helped fight off a few enemy fleets in the past. You know that Kite and Narok have never had any real-life experience like that before. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to the Earthians, especially not after all they did for Allura and me."

His father looked at him straight-on with a strange mixture of affection and anguish. It reminded Lance of the way his father had looked upon his mother's body before they sent it out to space.

It was sad, but Lance did his best to nod encouragingly with an unsteady smile.

"Lance, you know you're my baby," his father whispered. "I just want to protect you. You and Allura."

Lance's throat felt tight, his eyes burned, but he didn't look away. "I know," he whispered. "But I'm not a baby anymore."

"I know."

Lance's father rubbed at his eyes own wearily. Then, he looked up at Lance again, this time with his own hesitant smile. "And you really are just like your mother. I could never deny her for long, nor can I you."

Lance smiled again, but this time it felt bright and hopeful. "But it'll be fine, I promise. I could never do anything to upset you, Father."

His father quickly sent Lance away after that with a kiss on the forehead and a heavy sigh of resignation. Lance, on the other hand, was quite excited about the whole thing.

Allura seemed to react to the whole situation as if she were both their father and Lance. "Oh, Lance, there you go again," she huffed as Lance got ready for the trip. "You gussy father up all for the sake of putting yourself in harm's way. I'll never understand it."

"But you have to admit, you're a bit proud of me for it, aren't you?" Lance asked with a smirk.

"Oh, of course I am. I'm exasperated, too, though. Coran is going to be whining at me the entire time you're gone. You know how much he worries."

"It's not like you guys won't be able to talk to me the whole time. The wonders of advanced communication devices, huh?"

Lance rolled her eyes, but she didn't actually seem all that upset. "Anyway, please be safe and don't do anything reckless. Just get there, get the adamantite, and come back as soon as possible."

"That's the plan."

"And _please_ do not flirt with those two Earth men too much," Allura said.

Lance blushed and tried to laugh it off. "Oh, come on, Allura. They're already in a relationship with each other. All I did was have a little bit of fun with them while they were here. It's not that serious."

"If you say so," Allura sang.

Their conversation was cut short after that with the arrival of Hunk. Lance's request to have Hunk as the engineer for the trip was met readily by the Altean Council and with a confused eagerness from Hunk himself. Lance was glad, too, because that meant that he had someone to help distract him from what he, ruefully, suspected was an increasingly growing crush.

Trust Lance to actually get emotionally attached to a couple of temporary visitors.

 

* * *

 

 

Keith sighed as he packed up the rest of his items he felt necessary for the trip to Arus. They hadn't gotten any chance to speak to Lance before leaving. In fact, Lance almost felt like a faint memory now; Keith didn't so much as _see_ him in the days between the destruction of _The Redeemer_ until now.

"It's fine," Shiro whispered. "I'm sure we'll at least get the chance to see him before we leave Altea entirely."

Keith breathed in, ready to reply, before being cut off by Pidge. "God, I hope so. I sure don't want to have to see the two of you moping around any longer. It's exhausting, you know."

Keith wrinkled his nose and bared his teeth for a moment before Shiro silently chastised with a sharp look.

All Keith could manage was another sigh as he stepped onto the Altean ship that would take them to Arus.

 _Habenti Spem_ was the ship's name. None of them knew who their escort would be, yet, but Keith was determined to try to look somewhat less sullen before getting on. Their pilot deserved that much, at least.

"Well, took you long enough!"

Keith's ears perked up excitedly at the voice. The figure sitting in the command seat twirled around, and there was Lance, looking at them all nice and pretty with a wide grin plastered on his face.

"I was thinking you guys might never get here," Lance continued, "and that maybe I'd have to go to Arus all by myself to get that adamantite."

"Lance," Shiro breathed. He took a single step forward, the way Keith wanted to, but he didn't do much more than that. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take to Arus, of course. I _am_ one of the best pilots on Altea, after all. I know I've said it plenty of times before, but only because it's the truth."

"I didn't think they'd let you travel off the planet," Shiro continued. "Not with what just happened. In fact, I'm really not sure this is a good idea."

"Well, we can argue about that all you want later, if you really want to," Lance said. "For now, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can help you guys out. Ready to go?"

Keith, for as surly as he had been before, felt almost lightheaded with how quickly his mood changed to one of heady excitement. Still, they all had things they needed to do, and now they could even do some of that with Lance there alongside them.

With a happy twitch of his ears, Keith met Lance's excited eyes and smiled.

"Ready when you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm back??? i missed this story honestly :')
> 
> and i do want to finish it eventually, hopefully soon-ish haha
> 
> anyway, please let me know what you think!
> 
> if you want to talk to me or if you want more information about my writing, you can find me on [tumblr](https://fever-d-dreams.tumblr.com)


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